Hitchhiker
by Det.Ace
Summary: 19 yr old Beca is heading to L.A. on her own to pursue music. College seniors, Chloe and Aubrey, are on their way to San Diego for one last summer vacation. Fate decides these ladies need to meet along the way and some chaos ensues. AU-ish
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the characters. Just borrowing for fun.**

As the sun hit the lowest point in the sky before giving way to the night, a dilapidated bus came to a screeching halt on I-20 just west of Abilene, Texas kicking up centuries-old dirt. A commotion could be heard coming from inside the bus as the doors were thrust open and a young woman was roughly shoved out onto the dusty road.

"Hey, you can't do this to me! This is absurd!" the woman screamed as she landed hard on the ground.

"We don't need your kind bringing filth into our lives. Get out of here you pervert!" the driver snarled as he slammed the doors shut.

"At least let me get my guitar!" the girl yelled in desperation. She was a slip of a girl – about 5'2 and no more than 105lbs. She had long, wavy, chestnut brown hair, currently tied up in a bun, and blue eyes so dark they looked like midnight.

As the bus started to pull away, the passengers on the bus pitched her guitar case out of a window. Fortunately, the woman was paying attention and despite her near complete lack of coordination, she caught the case just a few inches from the ground. When things had started getting heated on the bus she'd had the wherewithal to sling her duffel bag and equipment case on her shoulders but the guitar had been a couple rows behind her up in the luggage rack. Checking to ensure that nothing was damaged she set everything on the ground and scanned her surroundings. She quickly began digging through her worn out canvas duffel to find her cellphone as the bus drove out of view. She pulled it out and sighed, "Well, shit." The phone was dead. She had no idea where she was in Texas and her one hope of using GPS had just evaporated into thin air. The last stop she remembered seeing was Fort Worth and that had been over an hour ago. She knew the next major city on the route was El Paso but that was many, many miles away. There was no way she could walk there. She looked around but there wasn't much to be seen. Not a single vehicle was on the road as far as she could see and there didn't seem to be any houses either. She was stuck in the middle of nowhere Texas and it was starting to get dark. "Okay, okay. Don't panic. You just have to start walking and hopefully you'll find somewhere to stay for the night," she said to herself to calm her nerves. With that, she set off down the road in the direction the bus had gone.

…

"Aubrey, pleaseeeeeeee. Pretty pleaseeee. I promise not to drink any more water for at least four hours."

"Fine, we'll stop. But I'm serious, Chloe. No more water! We are already two hours behind schedule and I will not allow us to fall further back."

As soon as the black Ford Explorer rolled up to the pump at the Texaco gas station a flash of red flew out of the vehicle and sped towards the restroom door on the side of the building. She pulled quickly on the handle but the door didn't budge. "You've got to be kidding me," Chloe huffed. She rushed to the store entrance - the bells on the door chimed, alerting the store attendant that he had a customer. He looked up briefly from his phone to the fiery redheaded young woman standing in front of him – well, dancing probably would be a better description of what she was doing. Chloe bounced from side to side trying to hold her bladder.

"Hi sir, can I please have the key for the restroom?"

"Restrooms for payin' customers," he replied in a thick Texan accent.

"Yes, of course sir. My friend, in the black SUV, she's buying gas right now," Chloe responded while pointing out the window to Aubrey.

The attendant nodded and handed her the key. Chloe ran back out to the restroom and quickly entered. _Oh man, this place is disgusting. I would've been better off peeing outside._ She finished up, feeling relief from emptying the full bladder she had held for the last hour. As she wandered back into the store Chloe noticed how out-of-date, or rather, vintage, this gas station was. It looked like nothing had changed since the '60s – old Coke signs littered the walls and there was a jukebox in the corner. It definitely gave a nostalgic feel to the place. She handed the bathroom key back to the clerk and bought a few snacks before returning to her blonde-haired, uptight, best friend.

"Chloe, please tell me you did not just purchase more food."

"What? Now I can't eat either?"

"If you eat, you'll get thirsty. If you get thirsty, you'll drink. If you drink, you'll need to pee. I told you we are not stopping until we hit El Paso," Aubrey screeched and began to gag.

"Whoa, relax Bree. Everything is going to be fine. Take deep breaths. I promise not to eat until El Paso. You know what, you've been driving for like 6 hours. I think it's my turn again. You lay down in the back and get a nap."

With that, Chloe took the car keys from Aubrey's fingers and opened up the back door for her friend. The blonde reluctantly agreed that she could use a bit of rest. They set off as the sun faded from the sky.

…

 _Oh God, this is so not good. Not good at all. I'm going to die out here._ It was unsettlingly dark as the petite brunette continued her trek. It was also eerily quiet minus the sporadic cries of coyotes in the distance – at least she hoped they were in the distance. She had been walking for at least an hour and not yet come upon a place to stay for the night or to even borrow a phone to make a call. It didn't matter anyway. She had no idea who she'd call even if she could. She definitely would not call her father. He would just scoff and say I told you so. She could try one of her friends but they have no money to help her out and Atlanta is a little far away for someone to come pick her up. Besides, there was no way she was turning back now. Suddenly she began to see her shadow cast in front of her. A car was coming. _Should I be excited or nervous? What if they're psychos or murderers? Just keep your head down and let it pass. You don't need some random stranger's help._ The woman pulled the hood up on her sweatshirt and stood closer to the edge of the road as she continued to walk. The car slowly passed her and she let a sigh of relief escape her mouth. However, it was a moment too soon as the vehicle then stopped about 10 feet in front of her. The woman stopped walking, unsure of what to do next. She heard a window roll down and a soft female voice called out to her.

"Hi, are you okay?"

 _This could be a trap. There could be a big dude in there waiting to jump out and rob you. Don't respond._ The SUV began to reverse towards her. She froze in place as the passenger window aligned with her body.

"Hey, did you hear me? Are you okay? Are you lost?"

"Umm, well it is kind of hard to hear you. Why are you whispering?"

"Oh, ha, well my best friend is sleeping in the back and I don't want to wake her."

"Uh, okay. I'm not lost. I'm fine. Thanks for asking. You can go now."

"Well, I think I might have to disagree. You are walking alone on a deserted highway at 9:30 at night. It's getting cold and you look like you're carrying a lot of heavy stuff."

 _Shoot, I hadn't noticed how cold it was until she said that. This stuff is pretty heavy and my feet are starting to hurt already._ The woman pondered how to reply when the driver turned the overhead light on revealing the brightest blue eyes and most vibrant reddish-orange hair she had ever seen.

"Sorry, I forgot my manners. My name is Chloe. What's yours?"

"Beca."

"Well Beca, where are you headed?"

"L.A."

"Hmm, I think you're going to be walking for quite a while. And, those boots aren't made for walking."

Beca rolled her eyes and looked down at her ragged, black, leather Doc Martens.

"Nice reference. Yeah, you're right. They are not the most comfortable."

"So then Beca, are we going to sit here talking on the side of the road all night or are you going to get in so I can give you a ride?"

Beca looked up in surprise. This girl was being so nice - too nice. It made her feel uncomfortable. Nobody was ever nice for no reason.

"What's in it for you?" she asked skeptically.

Chloe chuckled. "Well, as I said, my best friend is asleep in the back. I could use some company to help keep me awake as I drive."

"Where are you guys headed?"

"We're going to San Diego. One last summer vacation before senior year!"

"Sounds like fun."

"I hope so. Though, Aubrey is going to kill me if I don't keep us on schedule. So what do you say? You want to hop on board the Chloe Express?"

Beca laughed. This girl was so cheesy but it was somehow cute. This was probably her only chance of getting anywhere safely tonight. She couldn't turn it down.

"Yeah, I'm in. Do you have room for my stuff in the back?"

"Totes!"

Beca settled her guitar and mixing equipment in the trunk. Their luggage looked fairly standard. Nothing stood out as potential serial killer material so that was a plus. She grabbed her duffel and headed to the front seat to join Chloe.

"So, where exactly are we in Texas?"

"We're not in Texas… you think you're in Texas?"

"What? Oh my god, where are we then?" Beca asked with panic lacing her voice.

Chloe burst out laughing and conceded, "I'm sorry, I had to. You should've seen your face. I knew you were lost. We are near Big Spring, Texas. We have about five and a half hours until El Paso."

Beca stared at Chloe incredulously.

"That was not funny."

"Aww, I'm sorry. Don't be mad."

"Mhmm. Okay, so is El Paso your goal for the night?"

"Yup!"

The car was silent for the next 30 minutes aside from the light snores escaping from sleeping beauty in the back. Beca stared out the window trying to come up with a plan for her next step once she reached El Paso. She couldn't afford to spend money on a hotel. She needed every last cent she had to get her career started in L.A. She figured she could probably find a homeless shelter to crash at for the night.

"You know, you're not really holding up your end of the deal."

Chloe's voice startled Beca out of her thoughts.

"What deal?"

"The one where you keep me company in exchange for a ride."

"Oh right. Umm. What do you want to talk about?"

"How about you tell me the story of how you came to be walking on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere by yourself in the dark of night?"

"Yeah, I don't really want to get into that at the moment."

"Too bad. Come on Beca, spill it."

"Ugh, alright. Here it goes…"

 **That morning at 7:00AM**

" _Come on Becs! You're going to miss the damn bus."_

" _Stacie, do you have to scream? I'm ready. Just finished putting my stuff in the car."_

The two young women hopped into the decrepit station wagon and sped off towards the bus depot.

" _You know, I'm really going to miss you. It won't be the same without you here. No more beautiful music coming out of your room. No more grumpy faces to greet me at breakfast."_

" _Aww, Stace. Come on; don't get sappy on me now. Besides, now you can turn my room into a makeshift laboratory and become a mad scientist."_

" _Ha ha, Beca. But seriously, I am excited for you. Hopefully, I'll soon be hearing your music coming out of my radio. Then I can take you with me wherever I go."_

Beca smiled at the taller brunette. Stacie always had her back. They'd been best friends for the last four years and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't sad to leave her behind in Atlanta. But it was time to give her dream a real shot, so she was off to L.A. Her father had refused to help in her in any fashion despite the fact that he had promised if she tried college for a year. Apparently, he felt that Beca hadn't tried hard enough at the community college she attended for the last year. He had a new ultimatum for her on the last day of classes: Transfer to Barden for the next three years and get a degree for free. If she refused, he would cut her off completely. No more covering her half of the rent in her apartment with Stacie. No more paying for her groceries. No more bailing her out of jail – yeah that incident probably didn't help her case. However, as far as Beca was concerned, her father had basically threatened to disown her just because she wanted to follow her dreams. So she figured she'd save him the trouble. She went back to the apartment and talked it over with Stacie. Stacie assured her that she could cover the whole rent for a few months until she found a new roommate. They packed up her things, which didn't take long as Beca didn't really own much other than her laptop, mixing equipment, guitar, and some clothing. Stacie handled the clothing packing, claiming she knew how to make Beca look both hot and professional for the music execs. They then purchased a bus ticket from Atlanta to L.A. for the next morning. It all happened rather quickly.

" _Well legs, I appreciate the vote of confidence but I think it's going to be quite some time until you hear anything of mine on the radio. Besides, you already have tons of my mixes – you can take me with you wherever you go now."_

The girls pulled into the depot with about ten minutes to spare. Beca checked in and settled her things onto the bus. They stood together outside of the bus as the other passengers boarded.

" _Ugh, I really hate goodbyes."_

" _You hate it because you know how much you'll miss me and you hate feelings shortstack."_

" _Yes, exactly. Feelings are stupid. And enough with the short jokes. It's not my fault you're a giant."_

" _Look at me Beca."_ Stacie put her hands on Beca's shoulders to get her undivided attention. _"I am so proud of you. You are so brave and so damn talented it isn't even fair. Please believe in yourself and show those people what music can be like when someone with passion is behind it. You were born to do this."_

Beca quickly blinked her eyes and took a deep breath.

" _I love you, nerd."_

" _I love you too. Call me when you get there!"_

Chloe gave Beca a moment before interrupting as she could sense her emotions rising with recounting their goodbye.

"Wow, Stacie sounds like a great friend but I don't understand. If you got on a bus this morning, why did I find you walking on the side of the road tonight?" Chloe furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Stacie is a great friend but she also enjoys a good prank. Most of the time, they work out fine and the consequences are minor. This one, unfortunately for me, went really badly."

 **Two hours earlier…**

The bus had stopped in Fort Worth to switch bus drivers about an hour and forty-five minutes ago. It was a full bus after the stop in Fort Worth so Beca had an elderly woman in the aisle seat next to her. The woman had introduced herself as Tilda and told her she was heading to El Paso to watch her grandson graduate high school. Beca had smiled politely and then put her headphones on to rest. She began dosing off; listening to her iPod with her ancient duffle bag perched in her lap as she leaned into the window. Suddenly, there was a buzzing noise coming from Beca's lap but she couldn't hear it due to the headphones and being asleep. The buzzing continued and her elderly neighbor noticed, looking over to see where it was coming from. Tilda then observed Beca's hand in her pants partially hidden beneath the duffel bag and began screaming.

" _BUS DRIVER, THIS WOMAN IS PERVERTING HERSELF NEXT TO ME!"_

At the sound of yelling, Beca woke up and pulled her headphones off of her head onto her neck.

" _SHE'S TOUCHING HERSELF WITH A TOY! I CAN HEAR IT BUZZING!"_

" _Tilda, what's going on?"_

" _YOU, YOU'RE A PERVERT."_

" _What?!"_

Beca had then noticed the vibrating noise and the way her hand was positioned. _Oh god._ She quickly opened the duffle bag in order to find the source of the noise only to discover a large black dildo on top of her clothing. Tilda screeched at the sight of it. Beca dug further to the bottom, pulled out the remotely controlled vibrator, and turned it off.

" _Tilda, please it is not what it looked like. I was not doing anything. I am not a pervert."_

Tilda continued to scream until the bus came to a halt. Beca quickly slung her bags onto her shoulders as the bus driver grabbed her out of her seat and pushed her off of the bus.

"And the rest, as they say, is history," Beca finished with a dramatic flare.

"Oh my god. I can't believe they kicked you off the bus for that. They didn't even let you explain?"

"No, and I was mad at first but I can see how it looked."

"Yeah, so tell me why did you have your hand in your pants?"

Beca put her face in her palms. She was definitely regretting telling this story.

"Look, I always put my hands in my pants when I sleep. It's just something I've always done. It's comforting I guess. I swear I was not doing anything indecent."

"Ha, okay I'll take your word for it. In that case, I'm guessing the vibrator was Stacie's?"

"Yup, I gave her a really hard time about buying the remote controlled vibrator. I just couldn't see how that would be useful. She certainly showed me."

"And the giant dildo?"

"Oh no, that is mine."

Silence invaded the vehicle.

"Oh… that's uh, that's cool."

Beca tried to hold in her laughter but eventually snorted.

"Yeah, that's definitely not mine," Beca said with a hint of discomfort in her voice. "I hope she's not planning on getting it back 'cause I chucked that thing into the weeds."

Chloe giggled. "So are you mad at Stacie?"

"Nah, I know there was no malicious intent. It just backfired. Plus she'll probably feel bad enough when I tell her about it. No sense in being upset with her."

Chloe smiled. She had a gut feeling about Beca when she found her earlier. She could tell that Beca had a good heart. As she focused on the road ahead, she began to feel her eyes getting heavy. The redhead rapidly blinked her eyelids in an effort to stay awake. Beca noticed the girl struggling to keep her eyes open and decided to speak up.

"Hey Chloe, how long have you and Aubrey been driving?"

"We left Atlanta this morning as well."

"Have you slept at all?" the brunette asked worryingly.

"Nope. Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Yeah, well I'd rather we actually make it to El Paso instead of winding up in a ditch so how about you pull over and let me drive this last bit. What is it like 2 hours to El Paso?"

"A little less actually. I appreciate the offer but Aubrey would kill me if she found out I let you drive her car."

"Well, I think she'll be more upset if you crash her car because you were falling asleep," Beca reasoned.

Chloe thought about it and agreed. She pulled over and they hopped out to switch places. Beca finished adjusting the seat and mirrors. For once she didn't have to make too many changes since Chloe was only a couple inches taller than her. She had to admit she could see why Aubrey was protective of her car. The SUV was in great shape and very comfortable. As they pulled back onto the road, Beca got ready to tell Chloe it would be fine to take a nap but when she looked over, she saw that the redhead was already on her way to sleep. Beca smiled at the content look on Chloe's face before focusing back on the road. She hummed a melody she had been working on to pass the time.

As they neared the outskirts of El Paso, Beca felt an arm suddenly wrap tightly around her neck from behind her. She screamed as she noticed an Army knife clenched in the hand around her neck. _Oh my god, this is it. This is how I die. This was a trap all along. I knew I shouldn't have let my guard down._ Chloe opened her eyes as she heard Beca scream and took in the situation developing next to her.

"AUBREY, STOP!"

"Chloe, this person has hijacked my car and kidnapped us! Let me handle this. PULL OVER!"

Beca abruptly pulled the SUV to the side of the road and put it in park. She looked pleadingly at Chloe as the grip around her neck tightened.

"WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET IN THIS CAR?"

"Aubrey, seriously, let go of her! Everything is okay. Her name is Beca and I picked her up back by Big Spring."

At this Aubrey bugged her eyes out at Chloe. "YOU DID WHAT? ARE YOU INSANE? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS? WHAT IF SHE'S A MURDERER?" She began to breath in short bursts.

"Hey, I'm not the one holding a large knife to someone's throat right now," Beca snarked.

Aubrey let go of Beca and continued to breath quickly as her skin began to lose its color.

"Uh, is she okay?" Beca asked Chloe as she rubbed her own neck.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. When she gets stressed out she tends to projectile vomit," Chloe stated nonchalantly.

"Dude, what the fuck? Do I need to move?"

"No, she's getting better at controlling it. Right, Bree?"

Aubrey glared at Chloe and continued to slow down her breathing.

"Sooo, should I keep driving?"

As Chloe began to nod her head, Aubrey calmed herself enough to speak.

"Absolutely not. Get out of my car now!"

"Bree, you're being rude."

"Aca-scuse me? I'm being rude? You picked up a stranger and then let them drive my car!" Aubrey shouted.

"Look it's no problem, I'm getting out right now. Just let me grab my things."

Chloe grabbed Beca's arm and told her to wait outside the car for a moment. Beca nodded and walked to the back of the SUV. She could see that it was probably another 20 miles to the city center and she'd definitely prefer not to have to walk but she would if need be. She looked at her watch and sighed. If she were still on the bus, she would've been close to the Arizona border by now. Besides finding a place to sleep tonight, she also needed to figure out how to get to L.A. She really didn't want to spend money on another ticket but she might not have a choice. As she pondered her decision, she could hear muffled yelling from inside the SUV. A minute later Chloe rolled down the window and told Beca to get in the backseat. Beca hesitated a moment before doing as she was told. She noticed that Aubrey had climbed up into the driver's seat and was making a lot of adjustments. _She must be tall_ , Beca thought to herself. The SUV made its way back onto the highway and the awkward silence in the car became stifling. As the city buildings loomed into view, Aubrey spoke up for the first time.

"I'm sorry I held a knife to your throat."

"No problem, Rambo," Beca replied with a smirk.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Well, Beca, where should I drop you off?"

"Aubrey!" Chloe hissed

"What?"

"Anywhere, in the city center will be perfect. Thanks," Beca responded.

"Bree, I told you about her predicament. I don't think she has money for a motel let alone another ride to L.A." Chloe said to Aubrey in a hushed voice as if Beca couldn't hear every word she was saying.

Beca cringed. She hated pity. She'd experienced enough of it when her mom died. It was part of why she liked Stacie so much. Stacie didn't know Beca before her mom had passed so she never looked at her the way everyone else had.

"We're not going to L.A. Chloe. Besides you don't even know her." Aubrey shot back in a whisper.

"Look, guys. Really, I'm fine. Can I just borrow a phone for a moment?"

"You don't even have a phone? How is that possible?" Aubrey questioned.

"I have a phone but it's dead. I just need to look something up," Beca responded with irritation in her voice.

"Here, Beca. Go ahead."

"Thanks, Chloe."

Beca typed into the phone rapidly as Aubrey drove the SUV into downtown El Paso.

"Okay, if you just make a right up here, I'll be good to get out at the corner."

Aubrey slowed the car and stopped at the corner.

"Well, thanks so much for the ride. Have fun in San Diego," Beca called out as she got out of the vehicle. She walked to the back to grab her guitar and mixing equipment out of the trunk. When she turned around she was startled to find herself face-to-face with Chloe. The sight caused her breath to catch in her throat. She hadn't been able to really see Chloe's face on the dark roads but in the light of the city she was stunned. Chloe was gorgeous. Her hair was even more flamboyant and her eyes were like topaz. Chloe enveloped Beca in a tight squeeze, further shocking the tiny brunette.

"It was really nice meeting you, Beca. Are you sure you're going to be okay? Where are you going to stay?"

"It was nice to meet you as well. Yes, I'm sure I'll be fine. I have a friend nearby I can crash with for the night. Thanks again."

Chloe patted Beca's arm and headed back to the vehicle. Beca watched as she climbed into the SUV and they took off around the corner heading for their hotel. She hoisted her bags up onto her shoulders and began her walk to the women's shelter she had looked up on Chloe's phone. It was only a couple blocks away. Luckily, when she arrived there was a bed available despite the late hour. She got settled, immediately plugged her phone in to the outlet, and promptly fell asleep.

Across town, Chloe and Aubrey finished getting ready for bed in their cozy hotel room.

"I still cannot believe you picked up a hitchhiker," Aubrey mumbled as she brushed her teeth.

"She wasn't hitchhiking. She was walking and clearly needed help."

Aubrey spit into the sink. "Semantics. That was seriously risky, Chloe."

"Look, I'm sorry that I upset you but I won't apologize for helping Beca. There's something about her…"

Aubrey looked over at Chloe on the bed applying lotion to her skin. She had that look in her eyes. That dreamy far away look she got whenever she had a new pet project.

"Chloe, no."

"No, what?"

"I know what you're thinking. That girl does not need you to save her."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Bree. I just think she's interesting. Besides, I didn't get her number or her last name so I can't even contact her."

"It's probably for the best. Did you see those ear monstrosities and all that eyeliner? She's a little too alternative," Aubrey stated with disdain. "It's 3AM, we are way behind schedule. We need to be on the road again at o-nine hundred so time for lights out."

Chloe tossed and turned for the next five hours worrying about Beca. Something told her that the brunette had lied about having a friend nearby. Frustrated by her restless sleep, Chloe sat up quickly and reached for her phone. She opened up the web browser but Beca had closed it out from whatever page she had been on. _Maybe she didn't delete the browsing history though. Yes! Here it is. Beca searched… homeless shelters. I knew she was lying._ Chloe looked at the clock. It was just about 8AM. She quickly threw on her clothes and grabbed the car keys before she rushed out of the hotel room. She pulled up outside of the shelter about fifteen minutes later and prayed that Beca had actually ended up here. If not, she had no idea where to find her. She walked in the front door with two coffees in her hands and approached the reception desk. A Hispanic woman in her forties greeted Chloe.

"Good morning, miss. How can we help you?"

"Good morning," Chloe responded brightly. "I'm looking for a friend of mine. She might have come in last night. Tiny brunette about my age goes by Beca – she was carrying a guitar and a couple other bags. Have you seen her?"

"I'm sorry miss, but we can't give out any information about the women who may or may not be staying here."

Chloe looked crestfallen. Of course they wouldn't give her that information. It was naïve of her to think they would.

"Okay, I understand. Can I give you my name and number, and if you see her, you can just pass it on?"

"No need for that Red. You found me." Beca called out as she rounded the corner. She had heard Chloe's cheery voice while packing up her bags on the other side of the wall.

"Beca!" Chloe squealed as she grabbed the small woman the best she could while holding the coffees.

Paola raised her eyebrows in alarm at the gesture and gave Beca a questioning look.

"It's okay Paola, I know her," Beca assured the woman with a smirk.

Chloe let go of Beca and handed her a coffee. "Here, this is for you. I wasn't sure how you take it so it's black."

"Black like my soul. That's perfect." Beca cheekily responded. "So, what's up? Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Why did you lie to me?" Chloe looked at Beca with hurt in her eyes.

"You're killing me Red. Look, I didn't want you to worry about me so I told you I had a friend nearby. I'm fine though, really."

"Okay, so how do you plan to get to L.A. now?"

"Jeez, so many questions. Are you always this persistent?" Beca deflected.

"Yes, I am. Now answer the question."

"Truthfully? I don't know yet."

"Well, I do. You're coming with me!"

"Uh, I thought you were going to San Diego?"

"We are but I figure you can ride with us until then and hopefully figure out a way to get to L.A. from there. What do you think?" Chloe held her breath waiting for a response from Beca.

"I think I want to know if Aubrey knows about this new plan."

Chloe muttered.

"What was that?"

"No, she doesn't know yet. But it will be fine."

"Yeah, the last time I trusted you regarding mommy dearest, she nearly slit my throat."

"Beca, don't be so dramatic. Aubrey was not going to actually hurt you. Please ride to San Diego with us. I know I can convince Aubrey to let you join us."

"Yeah, and how do you plan to do that?"

"Easy, I'll appeal to her baser instincts which are punctuality and efficiency. If you come with us that is an extra person to drive meaning we'll cut down the amount of time it will take us to get there. Aubrey won't be able to resist that logic," Chloe replied confidently.

"Yeah, that would work if Aubrey was actually open to letting a stranger drive her car. I think last night is a good indication of how she would feel about that."

"Are you always so pessimistic? Come on, don't you want to get back on the Chloe Express?" Chloe sported a mega-watt smile and wiggled her eyebrows.

Beca couldn't resist Chloe's bubbly positivity. Besides, this way she could sit in a comfortable car for the remainder of her journey and she wouldn't have to spend more money.

"Okay, you win. Let me grab my things."

"Yay!" Chloe exclaimed and clapped her hands together. "Come on, hurry. We need to be back at the hotel and ready to go in 25 minutes."

Chloe pulled into the hotel at break neck speed telling Beca to wait in the backseat while she handled Aubrey. Beca was more than happy to oblige and not be a part of that conversation. Ten minutes later, Aubrey's green eyes were shooting daggers into Beca's as she placed her luggage into the trunk. Chloe hopped into the front passenger seat and gave Beca a reassuring smile as Aubrey opened the driver's door. Beca figured she should try to break the ice and thanked Aubrey for allowing her to ride along. Aubrey merely grunted in response. It was going to be a long ride to California.


	2. Chapter 2

El Paso was still visible in the rear view mirror but Chloe was already fast asleep due to her lack of rest at the hotel. Aubrey had remained mute since pulling out of the hotel lot and kept her face straightforward. Beca assumed the blonde's eyes were on the road but couldn't tell because the stone-faced woman was wearing aviators. In reality, Aubrey kept stealing glances back at Beca through the mirror. She still did not trust this petite woman. Initially, Beca had been happy with this setup. No talking was always good in her book. Talking usually led to awkward questions about one thing or another. She hated answering personal questions and preferred to keep to herself. That was why it was odd that she had so easily told Chloe about her musical aspirations yesterday. She chalked it up to being overly tired and somewhat vulnerable. As she pulled her headphones from her neck up to her ears and started listening to mixes on her iPod, she realized that in her haste to charge her phone last night she had forgotten to plug in her iPod. It died thirty minutes later. She couldn't risk running down her phone battery to listen to music so she just sat staring out the window at basically nothing. Nearly two hours into the drive, the pale blue sky began to darken dramatically and ominous clouds developed obscuring any sunlight from reaching the ground. The sound of rain suddenly hitting the windshield broke Chloe out of her deep sleep with a yawn. She stretched her arms up and arched her back before leaning around the seat to see if Beca was awake.

"Good morning again!"

"Are you always so chipper?"

"Yes, she is," Aubrey, replied with a scowl.

"She speaks," Beca spit out sarcastically.

Aubrey huffed. Chloe could sense that nothing had changed between the two since she had fallen asleep. The tension in the car was definitely uncomfortable. She figured the best way to alleviate it was to find things in common for the girls to relate to each other. _Music!_ This was a no-brainer.

"Aubrey, did I tell you that Beca is going to L.A. to pursue music?"

"Yes, Chloe you did."

"Isn't that a-ca-amazing?"

"It's a bit of a pipe dream if you ask me. Just like acting."

Beca rolled her eyes. Another naysayer. This chick hadn't even heard her stuff and she assumed she was no good. Typical. Whatever, at least she wasn't sitting in silence anymore.

"Umm, can one of you please explain this whole "a-ca" thing you keep adding to words?"

"Oh, yeah! So Aubrey and I go to Barden University. We'll be seniors this year and we are captains of the Barden Bellas – an all female, a cappella group. We make music using only our mouths!"

"Oh, right, a cappella, that's like a thing now. Wait. Did you say you go to Barden?"

"Yep!" Chloe responded. Aubrey gulped nervously. _Please don't let her recognize that name from the ICCA finals. I cannot deal with talking about it anymore._

"Uh, what are you both majoring in," Beca enquired.

"I'm pre-law and Chloe is pre-med," Aubrey replied haughtily.

 _Oh good. They probably don't know my father then._ Beca sighed in relief.

"So Beca, how old are you? Do you go to college?" Aubrey was looking for some kind of way to turn the attention away from any possibility of talking about the ICCA's.

"I'm nineteen. I just finished a year of community college."

Chloe piped in, "Didn't you say your father wanted you to transfer somewhere to get a degree next year?"

"Uh, yeah. He is a professor so tuition would be free at his school but I figured I'd be wasting someone's money, even if it wasn't his, and that didn't make sense. School's not for everyone."

Aubrey shook her head. She did not understand that mentality. General Posen risked his life for this country and as a result, Aubrey was able to use the G.I. bill to go to college for free. This idiot had a chance to get a degree for free, without it costing her or her father anything at all, and she passed it up. She tried to bite her tongue but she couldn't let this go.

"Well, I think you're a fool."

"Aubrey!"

"Excuse me?" Beca questioned angrily.

"You heard me. You're wasting an opportunity that others would die for. Others _have_ died for. It's being handed to you and you're throwing it away like it's garbage. You're going to regret it someday and it will be too late."

Beca knew she needed to be nice to these girls in order to get to her destination but this blonde was pushing too many of her buttons. "Get off your high horse, you don't know shit about me so stop trying to lecture me."

Aubrey could not stand this obnoxious, ungrateful young woman. She quickly pulled the SUV over to the side of the road and turned around in her seat to face Beca.

"Aubrey, what are you doing? We're going to fall behind schedule," Chloe stated trying to prevent whatever was going to happen from happening.

"Beca, give me your phone."

"What? No!"

Aubrey grabbed the phone out of the brunette's hand before Beca even blinked.

"The fuck are you doing? Give that back!" Beca attempted to reach for her phone but Aubrey's long arms kept her at bay. Chloe just sat there frozen, watching the exchange. She had no idea what to do.

"I'm going to call your father and tell him that you'll gladly go to college. We'll drop you at the next town and you can get a ticket home." Aubrey began scrolling through the contact list, looking for one that said _Dad._ She looked confused at the phone. Nobody was listed as _Dad_ but there was a _Dr. Stanley Mitchell_ in the phone and it indicated Beca spoke to him often. Oddly enough, that was also the name of her contemporary literature professor at Barden her sophomore year. Beca had had it at this point. She could no longer control her rage. She began yelling over the pouring rain pounding on the roof of the car.

"LOOK, I GET THAT YOU DON'T LIKE ME BUT TRUST ME, CALLING MY FATHER AND TELLING HIM I'LL GO TO COLLEGE IS NOT A GOOD CHOICE. ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ME ANYMORE!"

The older blonde stared back at the brunette and like the strike of lightning, which lit up the sky in the distance, it hit her.

"Beca, is your last name Mitchell?"

 _See? Talking always led to personal questions. This is exactly what I had been hoping to avoid._ Beca thought about lying for a minute but figured it wasn't worth the hassle.

"Yes."

"So, is your dad, Dr. Stanley Mitchell?"

"Yes, so, if you call him and tell him I'll go to college, you'll end up seeing me for the next year at Barden which I think we'd both rather avoid," Beca stated before snatching her phone back from Aubrey.

"Oh my gosh, small world, your Dad taught Aubrey and I in our sophomore year! He seemed like a nice guy," Chloe chimed back into the conversation.

Beca scoffed. Yeah, her dad was a _nice guy._ He just wasn't a good father. He had left when Beca was eleven years old. There was no affair or scandal of any kind. He just said he wasn't happy anymore and left them. Then, when Beca was fifteen, her mom died in a car accident. Her father showed up and moved her to his home with his new wife. Turned out he had stayed in the area. Four years without a word from him and he was less than thirty minutes away the whole time. Beca swore it didn't bother her and that she didn't care. It allowed her to stay at her high school but everyone treated her differently after her mom died. They were uncomfortable around the brunette. So she reverted into herself and focused solely on making music. Her grades were average but her father was less than impressed. He would constantly harp on her to try harder and to "fulfill her potential." Luckily, Stacie had arrived new to town that year and she was Beca's saving grace. She spent the rest of high school mostly at Stacie's house and moved into an apartment with her quickly after graduation. Aubrey noted Beca's scoff and immediately understood. She too had a hard-to-please father. It was a touchy subject for her and she figured the brunette had something similar going on. The man wasn't even listed as her dad in the phone for god's sake. General Posen was at least in her phone as _Father._ Aubrey let the conversation go and pulled back onto the road. They were still making pretty good time and she expected they would be in Tucson within an hour.

"Okay ladies, we will take a restroom break in about an hour. We should make it to San Diego by nineteen-thirty."

Chloe grabbed a nearby bottle of water and started chugging it. She had been purposely not hydrating to avoid pissing off Aubrey. She did not want another repeat of yesterday. Thinking back to the conversation, or rather, argument, they just had she thought about the upcoming a cappella season and how much they needed redemption. They needed new talent. Her aquamarine eyes lit up as she turned to the backseat again.

"Beca, I know you said you don't want to go to Barden but if you came you could audition to be a Bella!" Chloe squealed.

"Uh, no thanks. Seems pretty lame," Beca replied.

"We played the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, you bitch!" Aubrey retorted.

Beca raised her eyebrow and smirked. "I would think you wouldn't want me around, Aubrey."

"I don't. I'm just defending the Bellas."

"Beca, it's really cool. We sing all over the world and compete in national championships." Chloe batted her puppy-dog eyes at the small brunette.

"Sorry, I don't even sing," Beca lied. "And besides, I'm not going to Barden."

Aubrey furrowed her brow. "I thought you were going to L.A. to pursue music? And you have a guitar."

"Yeah, I want to be a music producer, not a singer," Beca answered simply. She didn't want fame or to be in the spotlight. For her it was about getting the music inside her soul out into the world. Creating music was the only thing that made her feel fulfilled. Aubrey continued to frown and glanced at the small woman in the back. She knew she heard Beca humming a melody in the car yesterday when she woke up to find her driving. Humming isn't the same as singing of course, but Beca sounded decent and she had figured that the brunette could actually sing pretty well.

 _KERPLUNK!_

The SUV suddenly started pulling hard to the right. Chloe screamed and a loud yelp echoed from the brunette in the backseat. Aubrey remained composed, gripping the wheel and slowing the vehicle down to a stop on the side of the road.

"Everybody okay?" the blonde assessed her passengers.

"Yeah, what happened?" Chloe replied meekly.

"Looks like you hit that gigantic pothole back there. Probably blew out a tire."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Aubrey bit back at Beca.

She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. This trip was not relaxing at all so far. This was just perfect – a flat tire in the middle of Arizona during a torrential downpour. Now what would they do? It was highly doubtful that Chloe had any clue about car maintenance. And the general had never taken the time to show her how to change a tire since he was never home. Aubrey pondered if she still had roadside assistance coverage and began digging through the glove box. Suddenly, she heard a door open and shut. She looked up to see that Beca was no longer in the car but rather standing by the rear passenger side of the car in the pouring rain. The brunette walked up to Chloe's window and motioned for her to put it down just enough to talk and not let the rain get in.

"The tire is shot. Do you have a spare?"

"Not a full size. Just a donut."

"Okay, how about a jack?"

Aubrey shrugged. She felt completely unprepared which was uncharacteristic of her. Beca sighed and nodded before walking to the back of the vehicle. She opened the trunk and moved the luggage around before the locating the latch for the tire compartment. The tiny woman easily hauled the donut tire out along with the jack underneath before closing the trunk again. Chloe made to crawl to the back seat in order to get a better view before Aubrey grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"Typically, no one should be in a car when it's on a jack. Due to the weather, we can stay in here but we need to keep our weight away from the area that's being jacked."

Chloe nodded her understanding and stared into the side mirror to watch through the raindrops. Beca quickly got to work, jacking up the car. She then began removing the lug nuts from the blown tire, her forearm muscles rippling under the tension from twisting the wrench. The strength the small brunette was displaying was impressive and shocking to Aubrey. Chloe appeared to be having a somewhat different reaction to this side of Beca though the blonde didn't take notice. The redhead's respiratory rate increased and she continuously licked her lips. Beca finished removing the trashed tire and held it up so they could see the damage. Aubrey mentally berated herself for losing focus while driving. Beca was right, that pothole was huge. Had she been paying proper attention, she would have been able to avoid it. Instead she was thinking about the Bellas and about Beca's singing. She returned her eyes to the mirror to observe as Beca squinted through the rain while attaching the donut tire. She expertly tightened the lug nuts before lowering the car. The small woman stood up and wiped the rain, or maybe it was sweat, from her brow. With the jack, wrench, and useless tire secured in the trunk Beca trudged through the monsoon back to Chloe's window, again motioning for them to put it down.

"Okay, so the tire is good for speeds of no more than sixty miles per hour and we probably shouldn't travel farther than forty miles on it."

"Beca, get in the car, you look like a wet rat!" Chloe exclaimed.

"I don't want to ruin the upholstery in your car, Aubrey. Do either of you have a towel I could use?"

Aubrey was surprised at the respect the girl was showing. Maybe she had misjudged her.

"Yeah, there are two large beach towels in the tote bag on the floor in the backseat. Get in before you drown out there."

Beca rolled her eyes and opened the door. She pulled out a soft, bright pink, Princess Peach towel and laid it across the seat before settling. _That one has to be Chloe's._ She quickly grabbed the other towel, black with the motto "An Army of One" and a yellow star in the middle, wiping her face with it. _This must belong to Rambo._ She looked up to see both girls staring at her.

"What?"

"I can't believe that A) you know how to change a tire and B) that you are physically cable of doing so."

"What Bree is _trying_ to say, is thank you," Chloe cut in, shooting her best friend an admonishing look.

"Yeah, uh," Aubrey cleared her throat. "Thanks."

Beca nodded. "No problem. Like I said, stick to sixty and we need to stop to get a new tire soon. You definitely can't drive on the donut all the way to San Diego."

"We're about forty-five minutes from Tucson. We can get it taken care of there while we grab some food."

Chloe nodded in agreement while Beca wrapped the towel around herself. She was trying not to show how uncomfortable she felt in her wet clothing. She would definitely need to change when they stopped. Chloe however couldn't keep her eyes off the younger brunette and immediately sensed the discomfort from her body movements.

"Beca, I have some dry clothes in the tote as well. You should change into them and get comfortable."

"Uh, thanks, but I'll just wait until we get to Tucson."

"Don't be silly. You're soaked and those wet jeans have to be rough on your skin."

"I'm good. I can wait."

"Beca, stop being stubborn and just change. Chloe won't let this go," Aubrey cut in.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Beca sighed and ran her fingers through her slick hair. This was so damn awkward. First of all, she hated being vulnerable in front of anyone and changing her clothing definitely fell into that category. She had never changed openly in front of her classmates in the locker room for gym class, preferring to dress in one of the bathroom stalls instead. Go ahead and call her a prude. That's fine. Second of all, that wasn't just a light drizzle she was out in for twenty minutes. She felt like she had jumped into a pool and swam a few laps. She was drenched all the way through – including her underwear and bra. There would be no point in changing clothes only to have her undergarments ruin them as well. This wasn't really a conversation she wanted to have with two people she had only known for less than a day. The redhead was now staring directly into her eyes, waiting for a response. She needed to come up with an excuse.

"I'm not wearing any underwear."

 _Oh no. What the hell was that, Mitchell? Lying was supposed to make it less awkward not more. Do you have any social skills at all? Good, God._ Chloe glanced subconsciously at Beca's waist before gulping out, "Okay, never mind." Aubrey made a disgusted face but chose not to comment any further. Beca slunk down into the seat, trying to hide herself as much as possible.

…

A short time later, the car entered Tucson and they pulled into a tire shop. Aubrey asked Beca for her assistance in talking to the mechanics to make sure they got the right information. They left their numbers with the shop and headed next door to a diner. Beca grabbed her duffel and raced into the bathroom to change. Returning to the table in gray joggers and a black long sleeved Henley, Beca slid into the booth opposite Chloe and Aubrey. She picked up the menu and glanced at the prices. The waitress came by and took their orders. Aubrey went with a salad and Chloe opted for a BLT. Beca decided to stick with a side of fries in order to save money. As the waitress walked away, Aubrey spoke up, "I hope you're wearing underwear now." Beca decided she wasn't going to take any more jabs and figured two could play at this game. She's a badass and needed to start acting like it again. "You wanna check?" Beca got up and acted as though she was going to pull her pants down. Aubrey nearly spit out her water and began choking. Chloe's eyes initially bugged but then she erupted into giggles. Beca smiled cheekily and sat back down. Their food arrived quickly and the girls tucked in. Beca kept looking up to catch Chloe watching her and then avert her eyes to her sandwich. She wasn't sure what that was about. The brunette was stealing glances at the older blonde during their lunch as well. She could see the fatigue in her emerald eyes from driving in the stressful weather conditions. She was concerned with her ability to carry on. They had another six hours of driving to get to San Diego. Just as Beca was about to suggest that Aubrey let Chloe or herself drive the rest of the way, Aubrey's phone rang.

"Hello? Yes, this is she. Wait, I don't understand. Hang on." Aubrey held out the phone to Beca. "It's the mechanic. Can you speak to him? I don't really get what he's saying."

Beca took the phone and asked the mechanic to repeat what he had told Aubrey.

"Okay, I gotcha. How much will that cost? Mmkay. And when will it be done? Alright, we'll be over in a few. Thank you. Bye."

Beca handed the phone back and worried her lip with her teeth. "So umm, bad news and good news. Good news is they can fix the problem. Bad news is it won't be done until nine o'clock tomorrow morning. The pothole not only blew your tire but also cracked your rim so they need to get a replacement. We can go over to talk about the price when we're done here."

Aubrey groaned. Money wasn't an issue. She just hated the fact that they were stuck in Tucson for the night effectively shortening her vacation time in California. They needed to contact the hotel in San Diego and adjust their reservation to be for tomorrow instead. Chloe grabbed her hand and squeezed it for comfort. Aubrey smiled back at the redhead before grabbing the check from the server. Beca tried to offer her share of the bill but Aubrey waved her off. Chloe claimed they owed her for changing the tire and not to worry about it. They walked into the tire shop and Aubrey settled the details of the work with the mechanic before asking about local hotels to stay in. Beca's ears perked up at this. It hadn't crossed her mind that she would need some place to say the night. Maybe she could just stay up in the lobby of whatever hotel the girls chose.

"Alright ladies, Mark here has offered to give us a ride to the nearest hotel so grab what you need from the car and lets go."

There was no way Beca was leaving anything behind to possibly be stolen or damaged. Aubrey looked like she was going to protest when she saw Beca lugging the guitar and equipment case but Chloe nudged her towards Mark's van. When they got to the hotel, Chloe and Aubrey walked up to the desk to ask for a room. Beca just settled her stuff in the lobby and sank into an armchair. Chloe looked behind her and frowned noticing Beca was not standing with them. She left Aubrey to continue booking the room and strode up to younger woman. Beca looked up and began talking.

"Hey, do you think you guys could keep my stuff in your room?"

"Umm sure, but aren't you going to be in there too?"

"I can't afford to split the bill so I'll just stay here. But I'd appreciate it if you could keep my things in there."

"Oh my goodness, Beca! You're staying in our room. Don't worry about the money. We still owe you for the tire thing and a side of fries definitely does not cover that."

Beca didn't know how to react. She felt embarrassed about having no money, guilty about mooching, and thankful for the help, all at once. It was overwhelming. She settled for smiling weakly at Chloe and following her up to the room. Once in the room, she faced a new uncertainty… there were two beds for three girls. Chloe alleviated her concerns immediately by placing her suitcase on the same bed as Aubrey leaving the second bed open for Beca. The brunette carefully set her guitar and equipment bag alongside the wall next to her bed before diving face first into the pillows. "Oh man, this feels good." She really hadn't slept much the night before at the shelter. She had been too worried trying to figure out her next steps to get to L.A. It's funny how much can change in a few hours. Chloe giggled at Beca's dramatics before laying down on her shared bed next to her best friend who was already dozing off. It seemed all three girls were equally exhausted from their day despite it only being late afternoon.

…

Three hours later, a cellphone began blaring in the hotel room. Beca woke with a start and blindly grabbed for her phone on the nightstand to see a certain long-legged woman's face on her screen. Stacie was calling via FaceTime.

"Hello?" Beca said groggily.

"Becs, where the hell are you? You were supposed to call me when you got to L.A. which should have been about two hours ago."

Beca yawned and scratched her head. She looked completely disheveled due to the fact that she was still half asleep. Looking over at the other bed behind her, she could see that Aubrey and Chloe had woken up from the phone call as well.

"Beca! Are you going to answer me? Are you okay?"

"Hey, yeah, I'm sorry. I totally forgot to call you."

"So, you're in L.A.?"

"Uh no, not yet. There was a bit of an issue. I'm in Tucson."

Aubrey had sufficiently woken herself up at this point and turned on a light in the room.

"Tucson? Wait, who's Barbie?"

"Tell me she did not just call me Barbie," Aubrey growled.

"Relax Rambo, she didn't mean it in a bad way."

"Tall, slim, blonde, and gorgeous – definitely not a bad thing," Stacie purred.

Aubrey blushed and headed for the bathroom. Chloe smirked and moved into the camera view.

"Hi! I'm Chloe and that was Aubrey. We're Beca's new friends. I picked her up on the side of the road in Texas yesterday."

"On the side of the road! What happened?"

"I got kicked off the bus."

"Shawshank, you get yourself into trouble again?" A boisterous blonde woman with a large smile pushed her way into the camera frame.

"Hi, Amy. It was not my fault this time. Someone, thought it would be a great idea to put a giant dildo and a remote controlled vibrator in my bag, right Stace?"

"Oh my god, seriously they kicked you off for that? Beca, I am so sorry."

"It's fine. I don't want to rehash the details at the moment. Luckily, Chloe here took pity on me and now we are in Tucson. She and blondie are headed to San Diego for a vacation and are letting me bum a ride. I just need to figure out how to get to L.A. from there."

"Becs, you should call Jesse! He can totally come get you."

"He isn't in Atlanta for the summer this year?"

"Nope. He got an internship in L.A. so he could stay while school's out. I'm sure he'd be pumped to pick you up. I think he's lonely."

"Okay, cool. I'll text him tonight. Hopefully, he'll be able to come get me tomorrow. I'll check in with you guys tomorrow night."

"Bye, Becs!"

"Bye, Shawshank. Don't do anything I wouldn't do – actually don't do anything I _would_ do either. You're not qualified."

Chloe sat there listening to the whole conversation. She didn't understand why, but she felt sad thinking about this Jesse guy picking Beca up tomorrow. It wasn't just sadness though, she couldn't put her finger on the emotion. Aubrey emerged from the bathroom looking refreshed. She peered at the small brunette suspiciously. Beca could feel the jade eyes staring at her.

"What?"

"Why were they calling you Shawshank?"

"No, reason."

"I've seen the movie. Are you a criminal?"

"Aubrey!"

"I'm not a criminal. I've never been to prison. It's just an inside joke," Beca huffed.

"Aubrey, I'm starving. Can we go find someplace to eat?" Chloe attempted to change the subject. Playing mediator between these two was exhausting. Aubrey acquiesced and stated that the concierge had given her a couple names of restaurants within walking distance when checking in earlier. The rainstorm had blown through and it was looking to be a rather pleasant evening, weather-wise, in Tucson. Chloe went into the bathroom to freshen up quickly before putting her shoes on.

"Okay, I'm ready Bree. Becs, you ready?"

Beca quirked her eyebrow at the nickname. Stacie was the only one who called her "Becs." She really didn't want to spend money on a presumably expensive dinner and she didn't want the girls to feel sorry for her anymore so she declined.

"I'm pretty tired, I think I'm just going to stay here."

Aubrey looked up sharply from her phone at this and glanced at her bags. Beca noticed the eye movement and snorted.

"Relax Rambo, I'm not going to touch any of your stuff."

"Stop calling me Rambo, you hobbit!"

Chloe sighed. She put her hand on Aubrey's arm to calm her down and led her out of the room. The two girls had just arrived at the restaurant when Chloe realized she had forgotten her wallet in the room. Aubrey assured her that she could cover the redhead's part of the bill but Chloe felt she desperately needed tequila, and the restaurant was refusing to serve her without seeing her license.

"It's a short walk. I'll be back before you know it. Order me the chicken enchiladas and guac'!"

As Chloe unlocked the hotel door, she was surprised to hear the shower running. She thought Beca would be sleeping. As she got closer to the bathroom she heard what sounded like singing. She slowly opened the bathroom door letting plumes of steam pour out of the room.

"You shout it out, but I can't hear a word you say. I'm talking loud not saying much. I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet. You shoot me down but I get up."

Chloe was in awe of what she heard and couldn't help but to join in on the chorus, harmonizing with Beca's beautiful voice.

"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away. Ricochet you take your aim, fire away, fire away."

Beca screamed. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Chloe."

"Dude! What are you doing in here? I'm nude."

"Relax, you're behind the frosted glass doors. I can barely see anything. Why'd you tell me you couldn't sing earlier today?"

"I said I don't sing. Not that I couldn't. I'm surprised you know David Guetta. "

"Of course, that song's my jam… my lady jam."

"Gross."

"Will you sing it with me?"

"Dude, no. Get out!" 

"I'm not leaving until you sing."

This girl had serious boundary issues. Beca sighed and began to sing the chorus with Chloe. She had to admit, the redhead had a lovely voice and they sounded pretty amazing together. It's not every day you harmonize that well with another person. Chloe agreed.

"You have a beautiful voice, Becs. You shouldn't hide it. You'd definitely be a great addition to the Bellas if you change your mind about Barden. Bree's waiting at the restaurant for me, I came back to get my wallet. I'll see you later."

Beca blurted a "Thanks _"_ and waited to hear the door click before she began singing again. After she showered, she ate a granola bar from her bag, got into bed, and turned on old re-runs of _Friends_. It was only about eight at night, but she wasn't lying earlier when she said she was tired in order to skip the dinner.

Around ten o'clock, a tipsy Chloe and a completely sober Aubrey keyed into the room. Chloe had ordered a burrito to go for Beca but they found the brunette fast asleep with the television on in the background. Chloe smiled dreamily at the tiny woman and it did not go unnoticed by Aubrey. She was just pleased to see that the troll hadn't destroyed the room or gone through her things. The blonde turned to see her best friend passed out on top of the covers in her regular clothes still holding onto the burrito. She took it out of her hand and placed it in the mini-fridge before removing the girl's shoes. After changing into her own pajamas and brushing her teeth she crawled into her side of the bed. She set an alarm on her phone for the morning and said a prayer that the car would be ready. Soon, they would be in sunny southern California. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A particularly loud snore in her ear woke the blonde from her deep sleep. The sun was peaking through the hotel blinds, bathing the room in a soft glow. Aubrey lifted her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes when she realized her movement was restricted. Someone was wrapped very tightly around her body, locking her arms to her sides. It took her a moment before she remembered where she was and with whom she was sleeping. The blonde turned her head slowly to look back at the redhead who was tucked into her neck. She had forgotten how cuddly Chloe became when she drank since the woman typically spent her drunken nights with more _suitable_ partners. She also had forgotten about her incredibly loud, drunken snores. Aubrey reached over to the bedside table and grabbed her phone to check the time. She still had about an hour before her alarm was set to go off but she was already wide-awake. As a Posen, she was taught that lying in bed awake was a massive waste of time and unacceptable. She figured she should hit the hotel gym for a run. It would be good for her body to get some exercise with all of the sitting she had been doing in the car lately. The blonde slowly and quietly extricated herself from her snoozing best friend, placing a pillow in her arms to hug instead. The redhead made a brief noise of protest before nuzzling into the pillow and returning to her obnoxious snores. Aubrey smiled a bit and shook her head before bending down to look through her suitcase for running shorts and a Bellas t-shirt. The blonde headed to the bathroom to change and walked past Beca's bed before doing a double take. It was empty. _Where's the hobbit? Her stuff is still here and so is our stuff so I guess that's a good sign. I still don't trust her though. Maybe I should text Robbie._ Aubrey opted to change in the open considering the only other inhabitant of the room was dead asleep. She picked her phone back up and searched through her contacts. _Yeah, it couldn't hurt to text him for a little help. I need to know if I can trust her._

 **Aubrey: Hey, how's my favorite police officer and cousin?**

 **Robbie: Good morning, Aubrey. I'm pretty sure I'm the only police officer you know. What do you want?**

 **Aubrey: I need you to run a criminal history on someone.**

 **Robbie: Aubrey, I can't just do that. It has to be related to a case. If I get caught looking up random people's criminal histories for personal use I could get into a lot of trouble.**

 **Aubrey: Look, I'm on a road trip with Chloe and she picked up a hitchhiker. She thinks we should trust the girl but I'm wary of her. I'm just trying to be safe.**

 **Robbie: Just ditch the hitchhiker. End of problem.**

 **Aubrey: If I do that, Chloe will be pissed at me. We're supposed to be on vacation in San Diego for a few weeks – it will be unbearable if she's mad at me the whole time. Please help me out here.**

 **Robbie: …**

 **Aubrey: What do you want in exchange?**

 **Robbie: Hook me up with a hot girl from your group in the fall.**

 **Aubrey: Fine. Now please, let me know what you find. Her name is Beca Mitchell. She's 19. Father is Stanley Mitchell. She's lived in Atlanta her whole life as far as I know.**

 **Robbie: Got it. Hit you back later.**

Aubrey picked up her headphones, iPod, and room key before heading down to the hotel gym. It was a fairly nice gym with floor to ceiling windows that looked out onto a courtyard behind the hotel. The only thing that really mattered to Aubrey in a gym was that the equipment was clean and functional. That the room was empty was just a plus and not really surprising considering it was six-thirty in the morning. As the blonde began her warm-up jog she noticed a small brunette sitting on a bench at the far end of the courtyard. _So that's where she went._ Beca had woken up at about six that morning and could not fall back to sleep. It was partially due to the fact that she had gone to bed so early the night before and partially the crazy snores coming from the bed next to her. Plus, she had this melody stuck in her head. She had been working on it for weeks and felt inspiration hit her as soon as she awoke. She threw on her chucks and grabbed her guitar before heading out to the courtyard to work on it. Aubrey watched as the tiny woman strummed on the acoustic guitar and then stopped to scribble in a notebook beside her. She repeated this cycle over and over as Aubrey broke into a sprint on the treadmill. The blonde noticed the familiarity and ease with which Beca played the guitar. She definitely was well practiced and though Aubrey could not hear the music she could tell the brunette was talented. After finishing a fifty-minute run and a ten-minute cool down stretch, the tall woman grabbed a towel and sauntered out into the courtyard. She listened to Beca humming the same melody that she heard when she woke up in the backseat two days ago and with the guitar added it sounded much fuller. She did not recognize the song and walked closer to Beca to listen better. Beca was in her own world, frantically writing down chords for the guitar and notes for the vocal melody. She did not notice that she had an audience until it suddenly got dark – someone was blocking the sun. Beca raised her sapphire eyes to see a very sweaty Aubrey wiping her neck with a towel, standing directly in front of her. She took in the blonde's skimpy running shorts showcasing her long toned legs and the form fitting t-shirt now soaked to a darker shade of grey. She had to admit, while she didn't enjoy the blonde's personality, the woman definitely had a smoking hot body. Beca raised her eyebrow at Aubrey, silently asking her why she was standing in front of her.

"I saw you out here while I was running. I thought you said you couldn't sing?"

"I don't believe I was singing just now."

"You were humming and it looks like writing a song. You don't do that if you can't sing."

"Like I told Red, last night - I never said I _couldn't_ sing. I said I _don't_ sing."

Aubrey's moss eyes flashed in irritation. She had been about to compliment the brunette on the song but was once again annoyed by her. Beca's mouth twitched up into a small smirk. She enjoyed getting under this woman's skin.

"We need to be ready to be picked up in an hour. Don't be late!"

"Sir, yes, sir," Beca shouted and mock saluted.

Aubrey rolled her eyes at the gesture and walked back into the hotel. Fifteen minutes later, Beca keyed into the hotel room with her guitar slung on her back while carrying three bagels with cream cheese and three coffees which she picked up from the complimentary hotel breakfast. Chloe had just woken up and was checking social media on her phone from the bed. The blonde was in the shower removing the post-run filth from her skin. The redhead squealed when she saw Beca carrying breakfast into the room and quickly got up to help her carry it to the table in the corner.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm dying for some caffeine."

"No problem. How'd you sleep, sir-snores-a-lot?"

"Are you suggesting that I snore?"

"No, of course not... I'm _telling_ you, you snore. You were sawing wood this morning."

The redhead reached out and playfully hit Beca's arm as the brunette chuckled.

"That's not nice. I can't help it. I always snore after drinking," Chloe whined.

"Do you always turn into a koala with your sleeping partner too?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Chloe winked at the brunette and began to giggle.

Beca's face flushed a light pink and she stuttered out a few non-words in response before shoving a bagel into her mouth. The two continued to eat their breakfast in content silence while the blonde completed her shower. Once Aubrey was finished, Chloe quickly took over the bathroom. Beca got up from the table and picked up her mostly dry clothes from yesterday, packed them into her duffel, and lined her bags up by the door. She laid down on the bed and messed with some mixes on her phone to kill time before they had to leave. Aubrey sat at the table eating the remaining bagel and applying her makeup. The silence between the two women was not nearly as comfortable as it had been between Chloe and Beca. While finishing her eyeliner, Aubrey received a text and after reading it, she felt like her head was going to explode from anger. She jumped up from her chair and leapt onto the brunette's bed, straddling the young woman.

"Dude, what the fuck!?" Beca exclaimed. She was somewhat aroused but mostly terrified.

"YOU LIED. AGAIN."

"What are you talking about? GET OFF OF ME YOU PSYCHO!"

Chloe heard yelling and quickly jumped out of the shower, running immediately into the room. She was very confused and slight annoyed to see Aubrey straddling Beca on the bed.

"BREE! What is going on here?"

Beca looked over and her jaw dropped. For the second time that morning, Chloe had rendered her speechless.

"BECA IS A LIAR!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT."

"Guys, calm down. I'm sure we can work this out."

"Chloe, I can't concentrate until you cover your junk," Beca blurted out while averting her eyes.

At this comment, Aubrey looked over at her best friend to see her stark naked and dripping wet from the shower. She looked back at the brunette to see she was more than a little flustered. After being roommates for three years, seeing Chloe naked didn't even faze the blonde anymore.

"Oh, yeah I'm pretty confident about all this," Chloe stated gesturing to her body.

"You should be," Beca muttered only loud enough for Aubrey to hear. The blonde filed that away for later.

"Besides, it's only fair that you see me naked since I saw you last night."

"You what? When was that?" Aubrey screeched.

"Wait, what? You said you couldn't see much because it was frosted." Beca felt mortified.

"Relax, Bree. I walked in on Beca singing in the shower last night. It's not that frosted Becs, I just really wanted you to sing with me."

"Chloe, for the love of Aca-gods, get a towel." Chloe huffed and walked back to the bathroom to grab a towel.

"Can you please get the hell off of me now? You are seriously deranged."

"NO! You still owe me-us an explanation."

"FOR WHAT?"

"Ladies, seriously, need you to stop yelling. Aubrey, get off of her. What is this about?" Chloe stated, trying to turn the shouting match into a civil conversation.

Aubrey huffed before she climbed off of the bed and Beca.

"She lied. She is a criminal."

"What are you talking about?" Beca protested as she sat up from the bed.

"I asked my cousin Robbie to look into her and he sent me this." Aubrey handed her phone over to Chloe. Chloe's eyes grew wide as she read Beca's criminal record out loud.

 **Petit larceny, age thirteen.**

 **Petit larceny, age fourteen.**

 **Drunk and Disorderly, age fifteen.**

 **Breaking and Entering, age fifteen.**

 **Assaulting a law enforcement officer, age eighteen.**

 **Resisting arrest, age eighteen.**

 **Disturbing the peace, age eighteen.**

Beca held back the tears threatening to escape. People never gave her the benefit of the doubt when they learned she had a record. Those charges didn't tell the whole story but nobody ever wanted to hear about it.

"Like I said, you lied! You said you'd never been to prison." Aubrey yelled pointing at Beca.

"I haven't. I went to juvenile detention a few times and jail briefly," Beca responded defiantly.

"Ughhh, stop mincing words. You committed crimes, therefore you are a criminal."

"Look, I made some mistakes when I was young. I had some things going on in my life, that I didn't know how to deal with at the time. I'm not the same person anymore," Beca explained.

"You were literally charged with assaulting an officer six months ago!"

"That charge was bullshit. You have to let me explain," Beca pleaded while looking at Chloe who had been silent during this exchange.

"No, I don't. I'm done listening to your lies. Get your stuff and find your own way to California. We are done here."

"Bree. I think we should hear Beca out," Chloe spoke up giving the brunette a reassuring smile.

"Chloe, get your head out of your ass. It's not a hat!"

Beca's eyebrows shot into her hairline. Even she knew that was too far for Aubrey. Chloe looked like she might start crying.

"Chloe. I'm sorry. That was mean. I just don't think we should trust her anymore."

"Everyone deserves a chance to explain themselves. Go ahead, Beca."

Beca took a deep breath and began to tell her story of that fateful night.

"Okay, so I worked at the college radio last year. It was part of how I saved money for my move to L.A. I had a pretty good reputation as a DJ already from high school and they let me start playing my own mixes at the station. This led to me being hired for some parties here and there. I was hired for a party at an off-campus house at the end of the semester before the holidays. I didn't know the people there at all. I was playing on the second floor near the stairs so everyone could hear and see me. The place was packed with tons of students and everyone was pretty wasted. Then at like one in the morning, there was loud knocking on the front door. One of the kids opened the door and it turned out to be a police raid. Apparently, one of the neighbors was annoyed with the kids constantly throwing parties so they called in an anonymous tip that there were minors drinking and doing drugs in the house. Everyone was obviously underage, including myself though I was not drinking or partaking in any drugs. The cops started flooding into the house grabbing anyone they could. I quickly threw my mixing equipment into my case and ran to a bedroom. I was on probation still from my previous offenses, so I desperately needed to get out of there. It wasn't that tall of a house so I figured I could just jump out the window and make a run for it. As I dropped from the window, an officer happened to be walking underneath it heading to check the backyard and… I landed on him. I'm obviously not that heavy but my equipment adds like fifteen pounds and it's hard. I knocked him unconscious. I felt bad but I couldn't stay so I got up to run but another officer grabbed me. That's how I ended up getting charged with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace. If that hadn't happened, my juvenile record would have been expunged on my nineteenth birthday and you wouldn't have found any criminal activity under my name. Also, if your cousin had looked more closely he would have seen that the assault charge had been dropped."

Beca had been staring at her hands while she told the story but now looked up to see both girls with their mouths hanging open in disbelief. She awkwardly shuffled side to side before walking over to grab her bags. Suddenly, Aubrey erupted into laughter and Chloe followed suit. The brunette turned around to face the two girls as they continued to laugh so hard that tears were rolling down their cheeks. Beca was thoroughly confused. Sure, Stacie and Amy had laughed at the story back when it had happened but she didn't expect Rambo to find it amusing at all. She became distracted watching Chloe laugh. The redhead seemed to lose herself in the joyous emotion – it was a good look for her. Soon the two hyenas caught their breath and looked back at the brunette.

"Okay, so you're not a violent criminal. I feel a bit better knowing that. I would like to hear about the other charges though before I let you tag along the rest of the trip," Aubrey bargained.

"No. I already told you, I was going through some stuff in my life and I didn't handle it well. I haven't stolen anything since I was fourteen and I haven't touched alcohol since I was fifteen. That's all you need to know," Beca replied firmly.

"Okay, I'm getting back in the shower. Bree, you need to finish your makeup and pack up your bags. Becs, can you go get a luggage cart?" Chloe knew the best way to end an argument was to give people separate tasks and move them forward from the issue. Beca nodded and grabbed the room key before slipping out. Aubrey looked at the time and decided to let it go for now. As Chloe lathered up her hair she thought about what Beca had just revealed to them. She desperately wanted to know more about this mysterious woman and her obviously troubled childhood. Aubrey was right about one thing. Chloe liked to find people who needed help. Aubrey called it "saving" or "fixing" but that's not how she thought of it. In her mind, these people needed some TLC and why shouldn't she provide that? She had a lot of love and joy in her heart. It was only right to share it if she could. A few minutes later, Aubrey walked into the bathroom to talk to Chloe about something she and the brunette had said earlier.

"Chlo, you said you sang with Beca last night?"

"Oh my god, Bree, yes. It was a-ca-amazing. I came back to get my wallet and she was singing Titanium in here. She's totes talented."

"I _knew_ that bitch could sing. I found her in the courtyard this morning and I think she was writing an original song. I hate to admit it, but she sounded decent. I wonder why she says she doesn't sing."

"I don't know but I'm going to do my best to get her to sing more today. Maybe she'll do some of whatever song she was writing."

"Call me crazy, but her secretive behavior thus far makes me think she would not be interested in sharing that."

"Well, I'm finished and getting out. If you don't want to see me naked for a second time today it's time to leave."

Aubrey shook her head and exited the bathroom. Beca was sitting on the bed again, toying with mixes on her phone with her comically large headphones over her ears. The blonde looked over to see that the luggage cart was packed with both hers and Beca's stuff. The brunette was seriously frustrating to Aubrey – one minute she's getting them breakfast or packing up luggage and the next she spitting out some sarcastic, snarky response. She picked her purse up off the bedside table and exited to the lobby to take care of checkout. Twenty-five minutes later, all three girls and their luggage were back at the mechanics getting settled into the repaired SUV.

"Okay, ladies. We have a six-hour drive to our destination in San Diego. We are **not** stopping at all. So if you have to pee, do it now before we go."

"Breeeee, could we maybe make one stop along the way? I want to see the Grand Canyon."

"Chloe, no. We do not have time. You wanted us to vacation in San Diego, not road trip around the west. This is what we planned. Don't you want to relax on the beach and soak up the sun?"

"Um, I take it neither of you are great at geography?" Beca piped in. "The Grand Canyon is way north of here – like five hours north. It's not on the way at all."

Aubrey was torn between being annoyed that the hobbit knew this and she didn't and being relieved that someone was taking her side for once. Chloe looked genuinely surprised that the park was that far. She felt a little betrayed by Beca but agreed that it was way too much of a detour for them to justify the trip. As the girls got onto the highway heading west towards California, the redhead turned in her seat to look back at Beca. The brunette was typing furiously on her phone.

"Who're you texting?"

"Jesse. I totally forgot to ask him last night about coming to get me today."

Chloe frowned. She sort of forgot that Beca wasn't going to be around after they got to San Diego. She knew she shouldn't get attached but it was hard. There was just something special about this girl. She also for some reason did not like the idea of this guy coming to get Beca. This was an usual feeling for her and she couldn't figure out what it was… she'd have to talk it through with Aubrey.

"So is Jesse, Stacie's boyfriend?" Chloe asked hopefully.

"Ha, definitely not. He's Stacie's cousin. I've known him almost as long as I've known Stacie. He's from Boston but used to spend his summers in Atlanta at Stacie's house. The three of us would hang out all summer long going to concerts and sneaking into clubs to hear the newest DJs. He's going to UCLA now and wants to score movies for a career. I guess he got an internship in L.A. so that he could stay year round. It'll be good to see him again and catch up."

"That's great," Chloe replied with a fake smile on her face. She desperately wanted to change the subject. "So, how about you play us some of your mixes you were talking about DJ? I'm in the mood for some music. Aubrey, you good with that?"

Aubrey nodded her head. She didn't want to admit it but she was genuinely curious as to how talented this small woman really is in regards to music. Beca took the aux cord and plugged it into her phone queuing up the latest mix she had finished. A mashup of Titanium and Bulletproof played through the SUV. Chloe smiled. She knew Beca picked this one just for her. After about four mashups, Aubrey spoke up.

"You're very good at this. I could definitely hear this playing a popular club. How long have you been doing this stuff?"

Beca was caught a bit off guard by the sincerity in the blonde's statement. Chloe had been praising her talent since the first song. Somehow, it meant a little more coming from the former naysayer.

"Thanks. I've been really into music since I was about twelve but didn't start mixing until I was fifteen. It's fun to play around with songs, putting something that seems totally unlikely together and creating a brand new meaning out of them. But I don't just want to make mashups or mix. Like I said, I want to be a music producer."

Chloe observed Beca as she spoke and could see the enthusiasm in her face when she talked about her dream. That right there – that was what was special about this girl. Aubrey was starting to get it too. Though she was driving, she could hear the way Beca talked about music. There was sheer passion in her voice. _Maybe Chloe was right about this girl._


	4. Chapter 4

The girls were halfway through their day's drive with about three hours to go until San Diego. It was probably the least amount of drama they had experienced together since they met, other than when they were sleeping of course. They spent the journey just listening to Beca's mixes, each lost in their own thoughts. Beca noticed that the redhead had begun to fidget in her seat about ten minutes prior. Chloe kept shifting her weight back and forth, leaning towards the window on her right leg and then switching to her left leg. The brunette was lounging across the backseat with her own back against the passenger door so she had a clear view of the ginger in the front passenger seat. Beca leaned her head against the back of Aubrey's seat to get a better look at Chloe's face as she continued to wiggle around. The older girl's forehead was scrunched up and she appeared to be gripping the seat with her hands. She was clearly uncomfortable but Beca wasn't sure why. Luckily, Chloe helped her out by crossing her legs and squeezing them tightly together.

 _Ah, she has to pee. Why doesn't she just say something? Right. Rambo. There's no way she's going to be able to hold this for three more hours. Kinda sucks that she's so worried about upsetting her best friend. Best friends shouldn't make you feel bad for needing to pee. Well, blondie already doesn't like me so I've got nothing to lose… other than a ride._

"Hey, Aubrey?"

"Yeah?"

"I really need to pee. Can you stop at the next gas station or diner?"

Chloe perked up, turning to look at Aubrey.

"No! I told you before we left to go to the bathroom and you chose not to do so. Hold it."

"Come on, dude. One pit stop is not going to make or break your trip."

"We'll be there in three hours. Just sit tight."

"Mmkay, well here's the deal. Either you stop soon or I make a mess all over your backseat."

Chloe whipped her head around to look at Beca in shock. Beca winked at her in response.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Do you really want to find out? Besides Aubrey, you know we're going to hit some traffic heading into the city. It's definitely going to take longer than three more hours. We can gas up and not have to stop after that."

Aubrey sighed. She couldn't fight that logic. Damn, she hated that this girl was right so frequently. It was super annoying. _Wait, is this what it's like for everyone else? Oh my god, no wonder I have trouble making friends._

"Fine. We'll stop at a gas station near Yuma."

Chloe let out a sigh of relief and gave Beca a look of appreciation. Beca nodded her head in acknowledgement. Fifteen minutes later the SUV rolled into another rundown gas station in the middle of the desert. As soon as Aubrey pulled up to a pump, Chloe was fleeing the car, waddling as fast as she could to the bathroom without peeing her pants. Luckily, this time the door opened without her needing a key and it was much cleaner despite outward appearances. Back in the car, Beca lazily got out of the car and stretched her arms overhead. Aubrey was already setting up the pump to fill the tank. She looked over at the brunette as she stretched her body and then glanced over to see her best friend exiting the restroom looking very relaxed. The blonde furrowed her brow before working out what had just happened. Beca had taken on the burden of pissing her off so that Chloe could avoid the confrontation with her best friend. For a badass, this tiny woman was proving to be a softie at heart. Beca pulled out her phone and her face scrunched up as she read something on the screen.

"Damn," the brunette muttered to herself.

"What was that?"

"Jesus, Chloe! Don't sneak up on me like that," Beca huffed. The redhead giggled in response.

"Bathroom is free now, Becs."

The small girl nodded and made her way over to the restroom while the redhead gazed on with a goofy grin on her face. Aubrey watched this enfold with growing trepidation. Chloe looked over to the blonde and her smile faltered the slightest bit as she walked towards her.

"What's with the smile, Chlo?"

"Just happy I guess. Looking forward to our vacation."

"Mhmm."

"What?"

Aubrey sighed. Everyone thought she was a stuck-up bitch with no empathy for others. Sure, she was a bitch. And yes, she could be stuck up. But, she did feel empathy. She didn't want to be the "Debbie Downer" but Chloe always had her head in the clouds. Sometimes, she needed Aubrey to give her a reality check even if she didn't like it in the moment.

"You have a crush on the hobbit."

"What? No. I… I don't have a…" Chloe floundered. _Oh my god. That's what those weird feelings were when she talked about Jesse. I'm jealous… because I like her._

It's not like Chloe's never been attracted to women before. She had known she was into guys and girls since high school but it was always purely physical with women in the past. She had been with several girls in college but she hadn't had an emotional or romantic attraction to any of them. She thought they were hot and she wanted to have sex with them, which she did. Now that she thought about it, Beca is definitely beautiful and sexy but it was the brunette's personality that Chloe had been drawn to since they met a few days ago. She had found herself wanting to learn as much about the woman as possible rather than fantasizing about getting into her pants.

"You can't seriously be telling me you didn't realize this until now."

"Breeeeee. I've been having weird feelings but didn't recognize them for what they were. Do you think she might feel the same?" Chloe asked with a hopeful smile on her face.

Aubrey exhaled heavily. Here's where she has to be the bad guy with Chloe's best interests at heart. She thinks Beca might feel similarly based on her reaction to seeing the redhead naked that morning but it doesn't matter. They are ships passing in the night and Chloe needed to be reminded of that in order to protect her heart.

"Chloe. You barely know this girl. She's moving to L.A. permanently. We are vacationing in San Diego and then going back to Barden for our _SENIOR_ year. We have the ICCA's and our future careers to plan. You need to stay focused. No alt-girl distractions allowed!"

Chloe let out a defeated sigh and looked back at the brunette coming out of the restroom, eyes glued down towards her phone.

"You're right. I know. I just feel so drawn to her. I can't explain it."

"Lock it up, Chlo," Aubrey ordered sternly. The redhead snapped her face back to Aubrey and nodded.

Beca finished texting and made her way back to the SUV. She wasn't looking forward to sharing the news she just received but she needed to figure out her next step. The girls climbed into the SUV and made their way back onto the highway.

"So, uh, do you guys have any specific plans while you're in San Diego?"

"Well, knowing Aubrey, we have some sort of itinerary. I mostly just want to go to the beach, eat tacos, drink tequila, and relax."

"So… Aubrey?"

"We'll be going to La Jolla to see the seals, taking a tour of the USS Midway museum set up by my father, walking around Old Town, visiting the zoo, and maybe seeing a Padres game. We are staying for a little more than two weeks so we have plenty of time to relax and go sightseeing. We opted to rent a place on the beach rather than book a hotel so we definitely don't need to worry about getting enough beach time."

Beca nodded her head while Aubrey answered though she wasn't really listening. She was preoccupied with her latest hiccup to her travel plans. Jesse had texted her when they stopped at the gas station in Yuma. He was expected to work late at his internship and couldn't come to San Diego today to pick up the pint-size brunette. He was very excited about getting to see Beca and promised to come down tomorrow to pick her up as soon as possible. Beca was struggling to gather the courage to ask Chloe and Aubrey if she could crash with them for one more night. This trip was doing a number on her fierce independence. Relying on others had not worked out well for Beca in the past and it was definitely out of her comfort zone to ask for help from people who were essentially strangers. Tuning back into Aubrey's rambling about their vacation accommodations, Beca figured there was probably a couch she could crash on considering they booked a beach rental. She just needed a non-awkward segue in the conversation to bring up her predicament.

"So Becs, where are you going to be staying in L.A.? Do you already have a place lined up?" Chloe enquired.

"I don't have anything picked out yet but I'll just stay with Jesse until I get my own place. "

Chloe grimaced in response. Aubrey caught the look out of the corner of her eye and frowned. This crush was a bit stronger than she initially thought. She had hoped Chloe just wanted to bang the girl. She had never seen the redhead get jealous in any of her other romantic pursuits. Probably because they were more sexual than romantic for Chloe. The girl was such a free spirit that she never actually made anything official with the people she "dated."

"Uh, speaking of couch surfing," Beca nervously continued, "Jesse texted me back at the gas station and said he can't come get me until tomorrow. Would it be cool if I slept on the floor or a couch in your place tonight? I swear I'll be out of your hair tomorrow."

The blonde glanced over at her best friend to see the excitement rising in her face at the possibility of spending extra time with the tiny woman. The redhead looked at Aubrey with the biggest puppy dog eyes and a huge pout. She really had no choice now.

"Yes, you can crash for one more night. He's definitely getting you tomorrow though right?"

"Yes. Absolutely. Thank you so much."

"It's no problem, Becs. We're glad to have you," Chloe responded cheerily.

Beca breathed a sigh of relief and texted Jesse to say tomorrow would be fine. Now that her sleeping arrangements were settled, she felt like she could relax again.

"So, you said you guys do a cappella. What kind of songs do you sing? What was your last set list?"

"Yeah, we are the best a cappella group at our school. At the championships last year, we sang _The Sign_ , _Turn the Beat Around_ , and _Eternal Flame_ ," Chloe responded quickly.

Beca scrunched her face up at those song titles. They were so old and outdated. There had to be a reason to sing those songs.

"Was there a retro theme to the competition?" Beca asked seriously.

"No," the older girls responded in unison.

"So, why those songs then? They're pretty ancient."

"We only sing songs made famous by women," Aubrey responded sharply.

"Okayyy, but those songs are tired. There are plenty of great songs by females from this century to choose from," the brunette retorted. "Did you guys win?"

Chloe could see that Aubrey was starting to get worked up by this conversation. The perfectionist was convinced that they had lost the ICCA's because of her vomit explosion. While it certainly sealed their fate, Chloe wasn't sure that even had she held it together they would have beat the Trebles anyway. She agreed with Beca. The set list was outdated and boring. But that wasn't something she wanted to discuss with her best friend right now. They were on vacation and needed a break from all that drama. She decided to move the conversation onward.

"No, we did not win. But, we're going to get our redemption next year!" Chloe stated confidently while placing a calming hand on the blonde's arm. Beca took the hint and let the conversation go.

"So, Beca, besides the guitar do you play any other instruments?"

"Yeah, I am fairly decent on the piano. I can play the drums a bit too, but not very well. How about you guys?"

"Well, I played the flute in middle school but I didn't love it. I quit for dance and choir."

"How about you, Aubrey?"

"No, I never learned to play any instruments. My father thinks that musical pursuits are frivolous."

"I hear ya. My Dad thinks that music is just a hobby. Can't wait to get the phone call from him when he realizes I moved to L.A. against his wishes."

Chloe frowned. She couldn't understand how some parents could be so unsupportive of their children. Her own parents encouraged her to pursue whatever career she wants whether it's becoming a veterinarian or a stripper. They will always support her – that's what family is supposed to do.

"What does your mom think of you moving?"

"I don't know."

"What does that mean? Did you not tell her either?" Chloe pushed.

Beca sighed heavily and rubbed her face. She had to decide if she would deflect, lie, or tell the truth. Her instinct was to deflect but she had a feeling that would not work with these two girls. They both had already shown themselves to be rather persistent. Her second choice was usually to lie and she did it pretty easily most of the time. She didn't want to be treated differently after she told them but she figured she probably wouldn't know them for much longer anyway.

"Well whether she knows and what she thinks about it, kind of depends on if you believe in the afterlife… my mom is dead. So if you believe in the life after death, then she knows I'm moving and I would guess that she's looking out for me."

"Oh my gosh, Beca. I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"No worries, Chloe. You couldn't have known. She died when I was fifteen so I've had time to grieve and adjust."

"I'm sorry as well, Beca. I lost my mom when I was young too. It sucks," Aubrey added.

Beca raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had never met someone her own age who had also lost a parent. It would have been nice to know someone growing up who could relate to something as life changing as this.

"Yeah, it definitely sucks. Thanks."

The car remained silent for the next thirty minutes as each girl reflected internally. Aubrey and Beca, both spending that time wondering how different their lives might have turned out had their mothers not died. Maybe Aubrey wouldn't have become so rigid and militant. Her mom died from cancer when she was twelve. General Posen raised her and her older brother the only way he knew how – he treated them like soldiers. Her brother, Sam, eventually became an actual soldier just like their father. Aubrey would never be able to please her father the way that Sam could. Next to the blonde, Chloe desperately worked to keep herself from crying at the thought of losing her mom anytime soon. She did not want to burst into tears considering she was the one who had nothing to cry about. She made a mental note to call her mom soon and tell her how much she loved her. The brunette in the backseat shook herself out of her own morose thoughts and noticed the gloomy mood that seemed to be filling the vehicle. She felt guilty for being the cause of it. Yet another reason she typically didn't divulge the information that her mother had died. It was an instant mood killer. She wracked her brain to come up with a distraction. They still had over an hour until their destination and they needed to snap out of this funk. Her phone was still plugged into the SUV's sound system and an idea jumped into her head.

"Hey, you guys want to play a game?"

"YES!" Chloe exclaimed while clapping her hands together.

"Sure."

"Okay, so there aren't enough cars on the road to play the license plate game and we're in the desert so "I spy" isn't going to work either. I'm going to play a song but only the first three seconds. First to yell out the name and artist wins. If neither of you get it, I'll play five seconds, then ten, and finally fifteen. Make sense?"

Chloe and Aubrey were both very competitive by nature though the redhead was mostly interested in having fun. They both nodded that they understood. Beca selected the first song and the game had begun.

…

"This game is rigged!"

"Aubrey, don't be a poor sport."

"I'm not. But the last three songs have been rap and I don't know rap at all. You know all of them, Chloe. It's not fair."

"Okay, okay. Guys, settle down! This last one is for the win."

Beca hit play and let the first three seconds play before pressing pause. She smirked as she watched the girls trying to formulate their answers. It's a very well known song but it can be difficult.

"Ugh, I know the title but who's the artist?" Aubrey griped.

"Bree, I know the artist but not the title! Let's just team up and call it a tie?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay, contestants on three, please state your answers. One. Two. Three!"

"Under Pressure." "Vanilla Ice."

"VANILLA ICE? Chloe, seriously?"

"What? Isn't that the right song? Ice, Ice, Baby?"

"Oh my god, no. It was Under Pressure. Right, Beca?"

The brunette had been cackling in the backseat during this whole argument. She picked that song on purpose figuring that Chloe would hear it's similarities to Ice, Ice, Baby and Aubrey would recognize the actual song. She was trying to throw Aubrey a bone and let her win but this worked out way better than she had planned. The blonde glared at Beca through the rear view mirror. The small woman stopped laughing and smiled.

"Yes, Aubrey. It is Under Pressure by Queen. Ice, Ice, Baby by Vanilla Ice was criticized for "borrowing" the beat though he denied the similarities. They make a pretty good mashup if you ask me. Well, Aubrey technically wins since she correctly identified the song although she did not know the artist."

Beca could swear that the blonde had the smallest smile in the corners of her mouth after hearing herself declared as the winner. Chloe, on the other hand, stuck out her bottom lip in a pout and crossed her arms over her chest. _Jesus, this girl is adorable. Wait. What? Where did that thought come from?_ Beca cast the thought from her mind and checked her phone. Well, the game had helped them to pass an hour. If everything was going to plan, they should only have about thirty minutes left in the drive. Of course, as Beca was thinking this, the SUV came to a stop.

"Damn, looks like you were right about traffic Becs."

Beca looked up to see they were now sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on route eight. This made sense considering it was four in the afternoon on a Friday. The GPS was showing an estimated arrival time of five o'clock now. The brunette decided that this was as good a time as any to take a nap. She stretched out her small frame across the backseat and moved her headphones on to her ears, almost immediately falling asleep.

"Beca. Hey, Becs. Time to wake up," Chloe whispered as she gently shook the younger girl's leg.

Beca looked up at the redhead bleary-eyed. It felt like she had just closed her eyes a few minutes ago but in reality a whole hour had passed. She let out a yawn and ran her hands over her face to wake herself up as the redhead walked around to the trunk to grab her bags. Aubrey was already out of the car and unlocking the beach house. It was a cute little home, less than a block from the beach. The yard was fenced in and had gorgeous fuchsia colored flowering trees throughout. Beca got up and helped Chloe carry the luggage into the home. There were two bedrooms and a small living room with a couch. Beca set her things next to the couch in the corner and continued towards the sliding glass doors to the backyard. The backyard was fairly small and consisted mainly of a tiny patio with a few chairs and bamboo torches. The brunette closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of salty air coming from the beach. It had been about seven years since she had been to the beach. Memories of that time in Hilton Head with her mother flashed through her mind. It was their last vacation together. It had been too difficult for her single mom to afford beach holidays after her father split.

"I've always loved the smell of the ocean."

Beca opened her eyes and turned to find Caribbean blue eyes staring back at her.

"Yeah, it's refreshing and calming."

"So, Aubrey and I are going to find a grocery store to stock up the kitchen. Do you want to come?"

"Uh, I'll just hang here if you don't mind."

"Yeah, no problem. Is there anything you want to put on the list?"

"No, no. I'm good. Thanks though."

"Can I see your phone for a minute?" 

"Sure, I guess."

*Ding*

"There, now I have your number and you have mine. Text me if you change your mind about wanting something from the store."

Chloe handed the phone back with her signature smile and walked back through the house to the street. The blonde was already waiting in the SUV.

"Where's the hobbit?"

"She's going to stay here. I think she feels bad for having to stay with us again and wanted to give us time on our own."

"She better not burn the place down."

"Bree, relax. Let's go, I'm starving."

Beca walked into the house to get her guitar and returned to the backyard to continue to work on the song. She just about had the song completed minus lyrics. Lyrics were not her strong suit but every once in a while she came up with something worthwhile. As she finished playing through the song once more, her phone began to ring.

"Hey, Stace."

"Becs, did you make it to San Diego?"

"Yup, got here about… whoa, I lost track of time. I guess we arrived a little over an hour ago."

"Cool, so when is Jess coming to get you?"

"Not until tomorrow. I guess his internship is keeping him pretty busy. I'm crashing on the couch with Chloe and Aubrey."

"Oooo, two ladies at once. Nice!"

"Stacie! Keep it in your pants. I meant I'm sleeping on the couch at their place."

"You blushed! Beca Mitchell does not blush unless she is actually interested. Do you have a crush on one of them? Let me guess, the redhead?"

"Ugh, Stace, stop it. They are both very beautiful. Blondie can't stand me but Chloe seems really… I don't know... she's different. But I'm only going to know them for one more night."

"And why is that?"

"Because, I'm moving to L.A. and they are going back to Atlanta."

"I'm not sure if you're aware but there are these things called the INTERNET and CELL PHONES! There's no reason you can't stay in touch and it's not like I'm suggesting you marry the girl. Just have some fun. I've got like three long distance sexting relationships and I don't plan to see any of them any time soon."

"Ugh, gross. I don't need to know about that. I've heard enough about _the hunter_ to last me a lifetime. Besides, I doubt she's into girls and even if she is, you know I don't do casual sex."

"Whatever, you're such a prude. So where are these gorgeous girls anyway?"

"They went grocery shopping but it's kinda been a while. Maybe I should text Chloe to see if they're okay."

"Oh, so you got them digits already huh?"

"I'm hanging up now."

"K, love you byeee!"

Beca shook her head and smiled as she hung up. Stacie teases her relentlessly but it's all in good fun. The sun is starting to set and she is a little bit worried about the girls.

 **DJHitchhiker: Hey, it's been a while. You guys doing okay?**

 **Red: Aww, do you miss us?**

 **DJHitchhiker: Nevermind.**

 **Red: lol, we're on our way back right now. We got a bit lost. Should be there in about 5 minutes.**

 **DJHitchhiker: Alright, see you soon.**

True to their word, the older girls pulled up in front of the house five minutes later. Beca walked out to the SUV and helped them carry the multiple bags of groceries inside. It looked like they had enough food for a month. Aubrey had insisted on preparing most of their meals at home instead of eating out the whole vacation. They needed to still have "bikini ready" bodies when they got back to Barden and consuming boardwalk French fries everyday for two weeks was a quick way to wreck that. Chloe noticed that Beca's guitar was outside next to the chair on the patio.

"Beca, Aubrey said you were writing a song this morning?"

"Uh, yeah. I've been working on a song for about a month now."

"Can you play it for us while we get dinner prepared?" 

Beca rubbed the back of her neck and looked at the guitar through the glass door. She never played her originals for anyone except for Stacie and occasionally, Fat Amy. She felt bad and hated to say no to the redhead but she just wasn't comfortable sharing something this personal with someone she barely knew.

"It's not really finished yet. Maybe some other time. Do you guys mind if I take a shower?" the brunette asked. She needed to get out of the room so Chloe wouldn't beg her to play. She didn't think she could resist the pout.

"Bathroom is all yours. Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes. We're having spaghetti with Bolognese sauce," the blonde replied.

"Sounds great. Thanks." 

Chloe turned to face Aubrey as the younger woman left the room and sure enough she was sporting a heavy pout.

"I told you she wouldn't want to sing."

"But her voice is so amazing. I need to hear it again," Chloe whined.

"Let it go, Chlo."

Chloe huffed and began to assist her best friend with the meal preparation.

…

"Wow, that was amazing. Compliments to the chefs!" Beca praised.

"That's all Aubrey. The girl can cook. I just help chop things and boil water," Chloe deflected.

Aubrey shrugged. "I had to learn to cook after my mom passed. I'm the only girl in my family and my Father is clueless in the kitchen."

"Well, it was seriously delicious. Thanks," Beca replied.

"So, Beca, since it is your first and last night in San Diego, I think we should go out with a bang!" the redhead exclaimed.

"Chloe…"

"Uh, I'm good with just chilling here."

"No, no way. It's your last night with us too. We gotta do it up!"

"Chloe, I spent the last few days driving. I'm too tired to go out," Aubrey growled under her breath at her friend.

"Bree, I'm not asking to go clubbing or dancing all night. There's this dueling piano bar I heard about in downtown. It's supposed to be a fun time. We'll just have a couple drinks and enjoy the atmosphere. Pleaseeeeeee." 

"Hobbit?"

"I'll do whatever you decide, Rambo."

Aubrey let out a defeated groan. Beside her, the redhead excitedly clapped her hands together knowing she had once again gotten her way.

"Okay, everyone go change, we should leave in thirty minutes."

Beca put on her signature black skinny jeans with distressed knees, a dark blue form-fitting scoop neck t-shirt, and her chucks. Though it wasn't the dressiest outfit, she felt it should be good enough for a night at a piano bar. Chloe and Aubrey, on the other hand, each chose dresses with high heels. They definitely made Beca look a bit like a slouch but she didn't care what random people in a bar thought of her looks anyway. As they walked into the bar, they noticed that it was definitely a popular spot to go. The place was busy and there was a fun vibe throughout the bar. They were able to find a small unoccupied table towards the back. Aubrey walked up to the bar to order a round of drinks – vodka cranberry for Chloe and a gin and tonic for herself. Being nineteen meant Beca couldn't partake but as she had told them earlier, she doesn't drink anyway. Chloe had forgotten and felt a little bad about taking her someplace like this but Beca waved her off and said it was fine. In the center of the place, there were two large Steinway pianos set up on stage opposite each other. Patrons could write down songs on pieces of paper, which they then placed on the piano with money for the pianist to play. The more money you put down, the more likely your song was to be played. House music was playing through the stereo sound system while they waited for the dueling piano show to begin. Aubrey returned to the table with their drinks and a soda for Beca. The brunette nodded appreciatively. As the girls sipped their drinks and took in their surroundings they overheard a commotion behind them.

"What do you mean he can't play? The show is supposed to start in five minutes!"

"I don't know. He called to say that he broke his hand falling off his skateboard an hour ago."

"Can Mark cover?"

"No, he's in L.A. with his band for a gig."

"This is a nightmare."

"Can't I just play by myself?"

"Billy, it's a dueling piano show. There's supposed to be two of you. We sold out the show. I'm going to have to refund everyone. We have two bachelorette parties here tonight. We are going to lose so much money."

As the girls listened to the conversation, Chloe got an idea.

"Excuse me, sir. I couldn't help but overhear your predicament."

"Miss, I'll give you your refund as soon as I can."

"No, um, I think I might have a solution for you."

"Chloe," Aubrey drawled. "What are you doing?"

The redhead beamed at the brunette next to her and waggled her eyebrows. Beca gulped. Despite not knowing this girl very long, she could tell this was not a good sign.

"My friend, Beca, is an amazing pianist. I'm sure she could fill in for the night."

"Chloe, what the hell? You've never even heard me play." Beca angrily whispered to the girl. "I'm sorry, sir. She doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Can you play piano?"

"Well, yea."

"How long have you been playing?"

"Ten years." 

"Can you play popular music?"

"Sure, but I'm not a professional. You don't want me."

"I don't need a professional. I just need someone who can play pop music and show tunes."

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"I'll pay you five hundred dollars and you can keep whatever tips you make."

Beca waivered for a moment. That money would be incredibly helpful to getting her new life started in Los Angeles. She didn't like playing in public but it was only one night, and she'd never see these people again.

"Deal."

Aubrey's lawyer senses began to tingle.

"You need to pay her half up front or produce some sort of one night contract so she knows she'll get paid."

The owner chuckled at the brazen blonde. He pulled a wad of cash out his pocket and handed two one hundred dollar bills and a fifty to Beca.

"Oh, you have to sing too. You can sing right?"

"She can! She's aca-amazing," Chloe answered for her.

"Okay, get on up there kid. Billy will explain the rest."

 _Oh, shit._


	5. Chapter 5

Beca got up from her seat at the table and slowly walked up to the stage to speak with the other pianist. She shook her hands out to try to rid herself of the growing nerves. It had been a while since she had played a piano and even longer since performing live. Before her mom had passed, the brunette had played with the high school concert band and jazz band. She had also been a member of the school choir. However, Beca had never played an instrument and sang simultaneously for a live audience. This was completely foreign territory for the tiny brunette and she was feeling the anxiety creep through her body as she looked around at the packed bar.

"Alright kid, you ready to do this?"

"I guess. Tell me how this works?"

"Sure thing. The show is about two hours long. So basically, you and I play off of each other. One of us will take the melody and the other takes the bass line and the same goes for singing. You said you sing right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"I can take the lead on that if you prefer?"

"Yeah, sounds good. I can harmonize."

"Perfect. So here's a list of songs that we play most frequently. Take a look and let me know if there are any that you don't know. Beyond those, customers will write down song requests and place them on the piano. If they put down a dollar, it's not a priority. If you get a fiver, then we should play it soon but not immediately. Tens or anything higher, we play right away. To let me know we need to play a song, you throw the piece of paper across the piano to me or start it on your own if you're comfortable and I'll follow. With me still?"

"Yeah, all of these songs are fine," Beca, replied after skimming through the list.

"Oh, one more thing. This is an audience participatory kind of show. There's a lot of joking around etc. We have a couple bachelorette parties here tonight. They can get crazy rowdy. We typically invite the bride up on stage to sit on the piano while we sing a song to her. Since there are two tonight, we'll have them at the same time."

"Okay, I'll follow your lead. And just a heads up, it's been a while since I've played so I'm definitely rusty. I'll probably screw up," Beca answered while glancing around the busy bar again.

"Honestly, don't worry about it. I mess up at least once a week. Most of these people are too drunk to notice and none of them are likely to be professional musicians. You'll never see them again. Just have fun! Oh, and I'm Billy by the way," he stated as he stuck his hand out towards the petite woman.

"Beca."

"Alright, kiddo, let's get this show on the road."

As Beca settled at her piano, she noticed there was a drum set, guitar, and bass all setup behind the pianos. She looked quizzically at Billy and pointed to the setup. He explained that in addition to the piano show, they have a house band that also plays. Beca nodded and flexed her fingers as she looked down at the keys. She ran herself through a few chord progressions to ease the nerves running rampant through her body. Meanwhile, Chloe and Aubrey watched the brunette with anticipation.

"I can't believe you did that, Chlo."

"What? I'm helping her get some money and exposure."

"Uh-uh, don't try that excuse with me. She said it herself; she doesn't even want to be a performer. _You_ wanted to hear her sing again. This is about you. You totally put her on the spot too. If this doesn't go well for her, you might not hear from her again, let alone hear her sing."

The redhead frowned. She knew she had completely blindsided Beca by speaking for her to the manager. Aubrey was right; it was mostly selfish on her part. She wanted, no, _needed_ to hear the girl's beautiful voice again. But she also had total confidence in the brunette's talents and felt she could handle this situation. At least, she hoped so. Chloe bit her lip and worriedly spun the ice in her drink while watching the brunette get ready on stage. _Damn_. The redhead wasn't blind but she was only now really starting to notice how sexy Beca was looking tonight. That scoop neck t-shirt was really showcasing the brunette's _assets_ under the bright stage lights. Of course, the tiny woman was completely oblivious to this. She was entirely focused on not making a fool of herself.

"Ladies and Gentleman, how y'all doing on this fine night?" Billy spoke into the microphone, getting the show started and revving up the crowd. The hoots and hollers in response let him know that this was going to be a fun night.

"Alright, well my name is Billy and this pint-size pianist across from me is Beca!"

The brunette rolled her eyes at the unoriginal height joke before sardonically waving her hand at the applauding audience. Billy continued to explain to the crowd how the show worked and then asked for a song to start them off. _Piano Man_ by Billy Joel was yelled emphatically by a group of guys near the stage. Yet again, Beca rolled her eyes at the unoriginal and totally predictable suggestion. She wondered if it was picked because of her partner's name or because he was literally a piano man. Perhaps both. But it was an easier song and she was thankful to start with it. She let Billy sing the whole thing on his own and supported him by playing the bass line. He was right about the audience participation – everyone joined in on the chorus. After getting successfully through one song, Beca felt herself loosen up. It was sort of fun to get back to playing the piano. During the song, a patron had set down a ten-dollar bill along with their song choice on the piano top in front of Beca. After glancing at the song, Beca flashed an amused smile. As soon as _Piano Man_ finished and while the crowd clapped, Beca nodded to Billy and threw the paper at him. He smiled after reading and looked at her. The brunette tapped her chest to say that she was taking the lead on this one. She began playing the intro beat as Billy began speaking into the microphone with a valley girl voice.

" _Oh my god, Beca. Look at her butt. It is so big. She looks like one of those rap guys girlfriends. Who understands those rap guys? They only talk to her because she looks like a total prostitute. Okay? I mean, her butt, it's just so big. I can't believe it's just so round. It's just like out there. I mean, gross, look. She's just so… Black!"_

Beca smirked while Billy talked, alerting everyone to the song they were playing. The crowd started to laugh recognizing the song immediately. As soon as Billy finished, Beca jumped in.

 _ **Beca:**_

 **I like big butts and I cannot lie** **  
** **You other brothers can't deny** **  
** **That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist** **  
** **And a round thing in your face** **  
** **You get sprung, want to pull up tough** **  
** **'Cause you notice that butt was stuffed** **  
** **Deep in the jeans she's wearing** **  
** **I'm hooked and I can't stop staring** **  
** **Oh baby, I want to get wit'cha** **  
** **And take your picture** **  
** **My homeboys tried to warn me** **  
** **But with that butt you got makes me**

 _Billy: (Me so horny)_

 _ **Beca:**_

 **Ooh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin** **  
** **You say you want to get in my Benz?** **  
** **Well, use me, use me** **  
** **'Cause you ain't that average groupie** **  
** **I've seen her dancin'** **  
** **To hell with romancin'** **  
** **She's sweat, wet,** **  
** **Got it goin' like a turbo 'Vette** **  
** **I'm tired of magazines** **  
** **Sayin' flat butts are the thing**

Beca continued the song all the way through and the crowd loved it. Initially, the brunette had been a bit wary of the possible audience participation but she could see now how fun it was. When she yelled out "Fellas" in the song, the guys at the bar all yelled back "Yeah." It was perfect call and response. When it came time for the "Ladies" they too responded and a few even got up to shake their asses at the stage. It was definitely a crowd-pleasing song. Back at their table, Aubrey and Chloe had their jaws hanging open and their eyebrows raised. They never expected the sarcastic brunette to have it in her to perform a song like that. To be honest, the surprise skill of rapping had the redhead a little hot and bothered. Billy moved on to play the next song, which was _Tiny Dancer_ by Elton John. Beca harmonized with him on the chorus and felt even more confident as they continued. They played a few more songs, most of them with Billy leading and the brunette filling in the harmonies. The male pianist then indicated to Beca that they would play the first song on the list. Beca had a feeling it was going to be a bigger hit than _Baby Got Back_. This one would require equal singing and playing from both pianists. They began the instrumental intro and immediately the bar patrons began to express their excitement. This was definitely going to be a sing-along.

 **Beca** _:_

 **Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world**

 **She took the midnight train going anywhere**

 _Billy:_

 _Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit_

 _He took the midnight train going anywhere_

 **Beca** _ **:**_

 **A singer in a smoky room**

 **The smell of wine and cheap perfume**

 _Billy:_

 _For a smile they can share the night_

 _It goes on, and on, and on, and on_

 _ **Both:**_

 _ **Strangers, waiting, up and down the boulevard**_

 _ **Their shadows searching in the night**_

 _ **Streetlights people, living just to find emotion**_

 _ **Hiding somewhere in the night**_

During the second verse, Beca and Billy switched every other line. They were really jiving well together and their harmonies were pretty good for having just met. Billy was impressed with how quickly this young woman was finding her flow. Most people totally clammed up during their first show but the brunette seemed to get better as they continued. Plus, he had not expected her to have such a strong and clear singing voice. She definitely had downplayed her talents in his opinion. By the time they hit the outro, the entire bar was singing/yelling the words.

 _ **Don't stop believing**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Hold on to the feeling**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Streetlights people**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Don't stop believing**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Hold on**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Streetlight people**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Don't stop believing**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Hold on to the feeling**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Streetlights people**_

 _ **Don't stop**_

Beca grinned as she took in all of the smiling and laughing faces after the song finished. Having never performed like this before, she had no idea what a rush it was until now. She kind of felt like a rockstar.

"Alright, nice work audience. Now, is anyone here from Beantown? Boston, for those unfamiliar."

Some whistles and hollers came from a few patrons.

"Okay, and I presume you Bostonians are Red Sox fans?"

Even more positive shouts were heard in response.

"Okay, do we have anybody from New York here tonight?"

A small table of five customers roared.

"Typical New Yorkers," Billy snarked. "Fuck the Yankees!"

Most of the bar erupted into laughter at this. Even the folks from New York had a laugh.

"Alright, Sox fans, this one is for you."

Beca, not being familiar with sports, had no idea where Billy was going with this. The most she could do was recognize both those names as being baseball teams. She had no clue that before the eighth inning of every Red Sox home game, _Sweet Caroline_ by Neil Diamond is played in the stadium. It is a sacred tradition. Luckily, the brunette _was_ familiar with the song, as most people are, and recognized it right from the beginning. She opted to let Billy sing this one alone and played the accompaniment. Again, the audience enjoyed the opportunity to sing along. Beca was relieved that when the song finished, Billy told the crowd it was time for a fifteen-minute break before they began the second half. Her hands were starting to cramp a little and she was really thirsty. As if he read her mind, Billy got up from his seat opposite her and asked if she wanted something to drink.

"Water would be great. Thanks."

"No problem. You're doing fantastic. You sure you haven't done this before?" Billy asked as he signaled a server to get them waters.

"Nope," Beca replied as she rubbed her hands.

Billy noticed the woman's actions. "May I?" He gestured to Beca's hands.

"Uh, may you what?" the brunette responded as she eyed him suspiciously.

Billy laughed. "Can I massage your hands? I'm used to cramping from playing and I know a good way to relax the tension your fingers."

"Uh, sure. I guess."

Twenty feet away, Chloe knit her brow as she watched the other pianist hold the brunette's hands and begin to rub them as they chatted. Aubrey observed her best friend and could tell she was feeling a bit jealous. Again, it was strange to see Chloe acting this way. She decided not to acknowledge it and went to get them another round of drinks. The redhead opted to go to the bathroom. She didn't want to watch this guy holding Beca's hands any longer.

"So did that help at all?"

Beca shook her hands out and flexed her fingers. She had to admit that they felt looser and relaxed. She did not really like anybody to touch her, let alone a perfect stranger, but she needed the relief if she was going to finish this show.

"Yeah, actually. That was great. Thanks," she replied sincerely.

"Good. So, we have the bachelorette parties to take care of still. They look fairly wasted but not so far gone that they might be destructive."

Beca looked around the bar and located a bachelorette party on each side of the stage. They weren't exactly hard to spot. Each group had about eight ladies and they were all decked out in pink with some sort of phallus item on their bodies. Some were sporting penis necklaces while others had penis hats on their heads. The brides-to-be were fairly easy to identify as well. Each was wearing a sash designating her as the "Bride. " Bride number one, on the left, looked to be about twenty-five. She had long jet-black hair, olive skin, and chocolate colored eyes. She was wearing a tight and very short, red, strapless, bodycon dress. It drew direct attention her model length legs and ample chest. Bride number two, on the right, appeared to be slightly younger, maybe twenty-two years old. She had shoulder length, wavy, dirty-blonde hair, tan skin, and hazel eyes. She was sporting skin-tight black leather pants and a sheer black crop top allowing everyone to see her black lace bra underneath. Both women were gorgeous in totally different ways.

"Beca," Billy tapped the brunette's shoulder to get her attention. "I lost you there for a minute. You good?"

Beca blushed. She had been caught zoning out or rather, checking out the brides.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm fine."

Billy flashed a knowing smile before continuing with the game plan.

"Okay, so these are the songs were going to play for the brides. You good with them?"

"Yeah, no problem. Did you want me to let you just take the first one?"

"No, no. I'm all for equality as long as your comfortable. How about I take the first half of the first verse, you take second half, I'll take the second verse and you take the last? We can both sing the chorus. Sound okay?"

"Yeah, I'm down."

"Okay, five more minutes and we'll start."

Billy sat back down on his bench and organized the song requests that had been left on his piano. Beca looked over to check how Chloe and Aubrey were doing but neither girl was at the table. The brunette frowned a little but then the blonde returned with drinks in her hands. Beca watched as muscular dude with long blonde hair came up and attempted to flirt with Aubrey. She quickly shut him down with a condescending glare. Whatever pickup line he used, it was not working. Beca had a feeling that surfer types were not Aubrey's type. Just then the perky redhead bounced back to the table and looked up. Aquamarine orbs connected with deep sapphire pools. The girls shared a brief smile. Chloe gave Beca two thumbs up in approval and she felt her cheeks grow hot. Aubrey observed the interaction and shook her head. She also gave the brunette a thumb up because Beca was certainly proving to be very talented. Most people could not do a show like this without any preparation. Aubrey was again impressed with the tiny spitfire.

"Okay everyone, it's time for round two and I heard we have a couple of bachelorette parties in the house tonight. I'm going to need both bride-to-be's up here for this next song."

The typical "Whoooos" that women tend to do in large groups, echoed through the bar as the parties pushed their brides towards the stage. The ladies wobbled a bit as they climbed onto the stage but Beca couldn't tell if that was due to the heels they were wearing or if it was indicative of their level of drunkenness. Maybe both? Billy asked the ladies where they were from, when they were getting married, and of course to show off their rings before assisting each woman to sit on top of a piano. Bride number two sat on Beca's and grinned at her. Billy then sat down and nodded at Beca to start playing the song. Again, the audience recognized the song quickly and the women started squealing in delight.

 _Billy:_

 _I'm just a bachelor  
I'm looking for a partner  
Someone who knows how to ride  
Without even falling off_

Everyone was focused on Billy as he finished his half of the verse and was subsequently surprised to hear the brunette coming in with the second half. The brides both whipped their heads towards the young woman grooving on her piano, singing with a smirk on her face.

 **Beca:**

 **Gotta be compatible  
Takes me to my limits  
Girl when I break you off  
I promise that you won't want to get off**

 _ **Both:**_

 _ **If you're horny, let's do it  
Ride it, my pony  
My saddle's waiting  
Come and jump on it**_

 _ **If you're horny, let's do it  
Ride it, my pony  
My saddle's waiting  
Come and jump on it**_

The redhead could not be more transparent in her arousal while watching this. Her eyes were wide and fixated on the brunette while she continuously licked her lips. Beca was being incredibly sexy up there with that devilish smile and smooth voice. Chloe couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed she was attracted to the girl before today and that it took Aubrey to point it out. Billy sang the next verse and bride number one decided to get off the piano to sit next to him on the bench, leaning into him and running her hands over him in a seductive manner. Her friends cheered her on as the pianists moved back into the chorus and the crowd joined in. The final verse came up and Beca started into it with a sultry growl.

 **If we're gonna get nasty, baby  
First we'll show and tell**

Bride number two was not about to be outdone by bride number one at her own bachelorette party. As Beca sang, the bride crawled off the piano and slid her way into the brunette's lap. The crowd (well most of it) went wild. Beca couldn't exactly play with the bride sitting in her lap and obstructing her view. She was able to keep one hand on the keys pounding out the bass line and she gave a panicked look at Billy as she continued the verse.

 **Till I reach your ponytail  
Lurk all over and through you baby** **  
**

Billy just laughed and motioned for her to keep singing. Bride number two seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the attention she was getting and also the brunette's performance. She began writhing in the pianist's lap and whipping her head around. Beca would be lying if she said she wasn't sort of enjoying having this beautiful woman sitting on her – it didn't hurt that the see-through top made it so that her lace covered breasts were directly in her line of sight. She had no other choice than to look right? The brunette finished her verse as best she could with the lap dance she was receiving and headed into the final chorus with Billy.

 _ **If you're horny, let's do it  
Ride it, my pony  
My saddle's waiting  
Come and jump on it**_

As the song ended, bride number two reached out and pulled Beca in for a searing kiss. The brunette was dumbfounded and froze, her arms stiff at her side. The crowd went mad and wolf whistles could be heard throughout the bar. The bride pulled back and giggled before hopping off of the brunette's lap, taking a bow, and rejoining her friends at the table. Beca just sat at the bench stunned. Meanwhile, a certain redhead was fuming so much, Aubrey could swear she saw steam coming out of Chloe's ears. Billy could not help but laugh as he stared at the stunned brunette's expression. He quickly started playing a song to match the mood.

" _I kissed a girl and I liked it…"_

The audience laughed and Beca shot Billy a venomous glare before breaking into a chuckle of her own. She could see the humor in the situation though kissing a girl was not a new experience for her. She had just been totally taken by surprise in the situation. While she continued to laugh, Beca glanced over at her new friends' table and noticed neither girl seemed to find the incident to be amusing. Chloe looked downright angry and Aubrey looked mildly uncomfortable. The brunette really hoped the girls didn't turn out to be bigots or small minded. The redhead noticed Beca staring at them in confusion and immediately felt bad about her reaction. She had no right to be mad about the kiss and truthfully, she was mostly upset that she hadn't been the one to do it. She gave a weak smile to Beca in the hopes to alleviate the concern she was showing. It seemed to do the trick as the brunette grinned at her in return before facing the other pianist to continue the performance.

"Okay, now that we have taken care of the brides-to-be, I want to know where my single ladies at?"

A raucous cheer was heard throughout the space as women threw their hands in the air. Billy immediately moved into Beyoncé's _Single Ladies_. At one point he pointed to Beca to have her take the lead while he got up and did the signature dance. The audience loved his sassy dance moves and Beca laughed along with them. After finishing a few more songs, Beca got a very interesting paper placed on her piano. A guy had requested a love song for his girlfriend and placed a fifty-dollar bill on top of it. Beca raised her eyebrows when she watched him drop it off and immediately grabbed the request to take a look. The brunette happened to be a huge fan of the song and was more than happy to play it. She also had an idea of how to make it even better. She threw the paper across the pianos to her partner.

"Alright, we have a special request tonight. Charlotte, your loving boyfriend, James, has dedicated this song to you."

 _Billy:_ _ **Beca:**_

 _Oh, her eyes, her eyes_

 _Make the stars look like they're not shinin'_

 _Her hair, her hair_

 _Falls perfectly without her trying_ _  
_ _She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday_

 _ **Uh, uh I was thinkin' 'bout her**_

 _Yeah, I know, I know_ _ **Thinkin' bout me**_

 _When I compliment her she won't believe me_ _ **Thinkin' bout us, where we gon' be**_ _  
_ _And it's so, it's so_ _ **Open my eyes and it's only just a dream**_

 _Sad to think that she don't see what I see_ _  
_ _But every time she asks me "Do I look okay?"_ _ **It was only just a dream**_ _  
_ _I say_

 _When I see your face_ _ **So I traveled back, down that road**_ _  
_ _There's not a thing that I would change_ _ **Will she come back, no one knows**_

 _'cause you're amazing_ _ **I realize, it was only just a dream**_ _  
_ _Just the way you are_ _ **It was only just a dream**_ _  
_ _And when you smile_ _ **So I traveled back, down that road**_ _  
_ _The whole world stops and stares for a while_ _ **Will she come back, no one knows**_ _  
_ _'Cause girl you're amazing_ _ **I realize, it was only just a dream**_ _  
_ _Just the way you are_ _ **It was only just a dream**_

The pianists finished out the mashup and the audience went nuts. Billy stared over the pianos at Beca in awe. True, he was a little startled when she started adding in Nelly's _Just a Dream_ to Bruno Mars' _Just the Way You Are_ , but he was particularly adept at adjusting to changes due to the format of his performances at the bar. In a million years, it would never have occurred to him to mix those two songs together and layering songs live like that was something he had not experienced before. He was totally blown away by this girl's musical prowess and he was definitely not the only one. Chloe was practically in tears at the performance. Aubrey just sat in her chair stunned. Her best friend was right; this woman was special. Suddenly, there was a commotion in front of the stage. A man was getting down on one knee in front of a woman, holding out a small box. The song requester proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes. The ginger openly started to bawl and her blonde best friend even got a little choked up. Beca and Billy congratulated the couple as the crowd cheered loudly. The brunette was floored to have been a participant in this random stranger's marriage proposal. This night was certainly going to be one she remembered forever.

"Well ladies and gentleman, what a way to end the night. We appreciate you all for coming out and hope you enjoyed the show!"

Boos and grumbling could be heard from the bar patrons. "One more song" and "Do another" were shouted from around the room.

"Hmm, what do you think, Beca? Should we do another?"

Beca got up from her piano bench and walked around the stage to Billy while the crowd chanted for an encore. She had an idea and it might be a little too much but she was riding high on adrenaline. Her confidence was at an ultimate peak so now would be the time to try this. She whispered in Billy's ear and the musician's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"I don't know, kiddo. That song is pretty difficult."

"Come on, dude. Live a little. It's pretty much the one song that everybody loves. Is the guitar plugged in?"

"Yeah, just need to turn on the amp. Why?"

"Just trust me on this? We can do this."

Beca ducked behind the pianos and crouched with the guitar checking that the strings were in tune before turning up the amp. Billy thought about it for a second and nodded his head. The woman had proven herself tonight and he had to admit, he'd love to try this song. Beca smiled and adjusted a mic stand near the guitar before turning it on as well. She then sat back down at the piano waiting for her partner to address the audience.

"Okay, you're in luck folks. We've got one more song for you and it's pretty special. We're definitely going to need everyone's participation on this one."

Beca and Billy caught each other's eyes and they were laser focused as they began the song.

 _ **Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?  
Caught in a landslide no escape from reality  
Open your eyes look up to the skies and see  
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy**_

 _ **Because I'm easy come, easy go  
A little high, little low  
Anyway the wind blows  
Doesn't really matter to me, to me**_

 _Billy:_

 _Mama, just killed a man_

 _Put a gun against his head_

 _Pulled the trigger, now he's dead_

 _Mama, life had just begun_

 _But now I've gone and thrown it all away_

 _Mama, oooooo_

 _Didn't mean to make you cry_

 _If I'm not back again this time tomorrow_

 _Carry on, carry on_

 _As if nothing really matters_

 **Beca:**

 **Too late**

 **My time has come**

 **Sends shivers down my spine**

 **Body's aching all the time**

 **Goodbye, everybody**

 **I've got to go**

 **Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth**

 **Mama, ooooo**

 **I don't wanna die**

 **I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all**

The brunette got up midway through her verse and put the guitar strap around her body preparing for the sick axe solo at the end of her stanza. Billy kept the piano going and Beca tore it up. The cheering of the audience was almost deafening. Everyone loves a good guitar solo. They continued on through the next part of the song, Beca pointing to the crowd to fill in lines like "Scaramouch" and the "Galileo" "Let him go" call-response sections. She was having a blast and clearly in her element. She looked over at Billy and he was grinning like a fool while singing his heart out. Beca moved herself closer to the drum set and placed her foot on the bass pedal adding in the backbeat.

 _ **Beelzebub**_

 _ **Has a devil put aside for me**_

 _ **For me**_

 _ **For me!**_

Billy hit that falsetto note surprising Beca as she jumped into shredding the next guitar section. She was killing it as she continued to hit the bass pedal.

 **Beca:**

 **So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye**

 **So you think you can love me and leave me to die**

 **Oh, baby**

 **Can't do this to me baby**

 **Just gotta get out**

 **Just gotta get right out of here**

The brunette stepped out from behind the pianos to finish crushing the guitar part, letting Billy take the vocal lead. The crowd stopped singing along and became quiet to listen as the performers gently sang the ending together. Standing ovations aren't common during a performance like this and there had never been one for the dueling piano show before, but Beca and Billy earned it. The audience clapped and shouted their praises for five minutes straight. Beca blushed a bit nodding her thanks in return, before setting the guitar back into its stand. Suddenly she felt someone crash into her from behind, hugging her around her waist. The brunette stumbled before catching her balance on the piano bench. She turned around to find the redhead beaming at her.

"OH MY GOD, BECS! THAT WAS ACA-AMAZING!"

The humble-to-a-fault brunette shrugged her shoulders and gave out a short, "Thanks."

"She's right, hobbit. You are far more talented than you let on. I'm really impressed."

Beca hadn't noticed that the blonde woman had sidled up to them.

"Thanks, Aubrey."

"Beca, that was fantastic! Here's the other two hundred and fifty that I owe you."

"Thanks, umm, …"

"John. Call me, John. Say, would you be interested in working here? We could definitely use more talent like you."

"Wow, John, I really appreciate your offer but I don't live here. I'm moving to L.A."

"Well, Beca, if you ever change your mind, you give me a call okay?"

"Uh, yeah sure. Thanks," the brunette replied as she took the business card from John's hand before he walked away.

Beca asked the girls to give her a minute to talk to Billy before they left for the evening. The brunette had a tough time making it over to the other pianist. Patrons wanting to pay her compliments repeatedly stopped her along the way. She was gracious and modest with them all. Eventually, the small musician made it over to her partner for the night. Billy reiterated how impressed he was with Beca's musical abilities and also asked that she reconsider John's offer because he would love to play with her again. The brunette thanked him and expressed her mutual admiration for his performance that evening. As she turned to leave, Billy called out to her and handed her a wad of cash.

"Beca, don't forget your half of the tips."

"Holy shit! If you're giving me three hundred that means we made six hundred? That's insane!"

"Yeah, we don't usually make that much. It was definitely due to you."

Beca blushed and thanked the man again before walking towards the girls. Aubrey had been watching the interaction and noticed something very interesting. Billy had given Beca all of their tips – not just her half of the pot. The pianist caught the blonde staring at him and shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish smile on his face. He had read Beca correctly and knew she never would have allowed him to give her all of the tips had she known. She was too proud. Aubrey could relate and she figured Billy could too. The blonde shared a discrete smile with the male pianist and didn't say a word. The three young women walked out to the SUV and hopped in to head back to the beach house. All the way back, the blonde and redhead sang Beca's praises and told her which parts of the performance they enjoyed the most. The brunette did not fail to notice that neither of them brought up the brides and she was not about to make it awkward by bringing it up herself. She'd save that story for Stacey and Fat Amy. The trio made it home safely and quickly got ready for bed. Beca was exhausted and her hands were already aching as she laid down on the couch in the living room. She could suddenly hear bare feet padding into the room and looked over to see the redhead coming towards her.

"Hey there, rockstar. Thought you might like to take some pain relievers. I know I'm always sore after I dance for the first time in a while. Figure playing an instrument might be similar?"

Beca reached out for the pills and water, gulping it all down quickly.

"Yeah, thanks. My hands are killing me already. Tomorrow is going to be rough."

"You truly were fantastic tonight. Goodnight, Becs," Chloe stated as she walked back to her bedroom.

"Night," the brunette replied.

With a genuine smile on her face, Beca drifted off to sleep.


End file.
